Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his eyesight

[Luke Skywalker]

{vb:raw ozzmodz_postquote}:

Get the news
Log In or Subscribe to skip

88 [h=6]Share This Story![/h]Let friends in your social network know what you are reading about

[h=4]Germanwings co-pilot may have feared he was losing his eyesight[/h]A French prosecutor said the co-pilot of a Germanwings plane may have been depressed over fears he was losing his eyesight and would no longer be able to fly when he deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps in March.

{# #}
[h=4]Sent![/h]A link has been sent to your friend's email address.



[h=4]Posted![/h]A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.



[h=6]Join the Nation's Conversation[/h]To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs

[h=2]UP NEXT[/h][h=2]03[/h]


A French prosecutor says that some doctors who treated the co-pilot who crashed a Germanwings jet felt he was unfit to fly, but did not tell his employers because of German patient secrecy laws. USA TODAY


Hearses transport coffins with the bodies of victims of the Germanwings plane that was deliberately crashed in the French Alps on a motorway on June 10, 2015 in Duesseldorf,(Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd, AFP/Getty Images)



A French prosecutor said Thursday that the a Germanwings co-pilot may have been depressed over fears that he was losing his eyesight and would no longer be able to fly when he crashed the plane into the French Alps in March, killing 150 people.
Marseille Prosecutor Brice Robin told reporters in Paris that the 27-year-old co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had seven doctor's appointments within the month before the March 24 crash, including three appointments with a psychiatrist, according to the Associated Press.
Some of the doctors felt he was psychologically unstable, and some felt he was unfit to fly, but "unfortunately that information was not reported because of medical secrecy requirements," Robin said.
Robin, who met with family members of the victims before speaking with reporters, also said he has opened a formal criminal investigation to determine whether Germanwings airlines or any individual should be held responsible for failing to monitor Lubitz's psychological health, The New York Times reports.

The co-pilot of Germanwings flight 4U9525, Andreas Lubitz, takes part in the Airport Hamburg 10-mile run on Sept. 13, 2009, in Hamburg, Germany.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Michael Mueller, AP)

His meeting came as the first remains of the victims are being returned to their families for burial. There were 19 different nationalities among the 150 victims. Nearly half of them were German, and about a third were Spanish. The dead included 16 German students on a high school trip.

French prosecutor of Marseille Brice Robin speaks to reporters in Paris on the investigation into the crash of a Germanwings plane in March.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Stephane de Sakutin, AFP/Getty Images)

Robin said the investigation so far "has enabled us to confirm without a shadow of a doubt … Mr. Andreas Lubitz deliberately destroyed the plane and deliberately killed 150 people, including himself."
A preliminary report by the French air accidents bureau, along with evidence from prosecutors, has strongly supported the view that Lubitz intentionally crashed his plane into the French Alps a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf on March 24.
Audio recordings indicate the co-pilot purposely locked the pilot out of the cockpit shortly after takeoff and then methodically brought the plane down.
Lubitz, who at one point had to withdraw from a flight-training school for 11 months for treatment from depression, had a history of depression, according to German prosecutors.
Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, has acknowledged it was told about his illness but said he was reinstated after a company flight doctor found him fit to fly.
0) { %> 0) { %>
0) { %>




Powered By WizardRSS.com | Full Text RSS Feed