Revealed: TWO doctors ruled Germanwings co-pilot was unfit for work on day of the disaster - but he kept it secret from airline

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Killer co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was signed off by two different doctors for the day of the Germanwings disaster but failed to tell his employers, it has been reported.  

The claims from German newspaper The Rheinische Post come after it emerged Lubitz may have crashed his plane due to fears he was about to lose his licence on medical grounds.

The pilot locked his captain of the cockpit on Tuesday before setting the airliner's controls to descend into a rocky valley, obliterating the plane and killing all 150 people on board.

Investigators revealed today that medical sign-off notes were found at Lubitz's home - including at least one that covered the day of the crash - and Dusseldorf University Hospital confirmed he had been a patient there over the past two months, although it would not disclose his condition.

More sick notes are said to have covered other days when he flew despite being told not to. But police said they found no suicide note in a five-hour search.

Speaking to MailOnline tonight, an airline spokesman stressed the company was unaware of any medical notes and said it had been Lubitz's responsibility to tell his employers he was unfit to fly.

Described as a man whose life-long obsession had been to become a pilot, it has been suggested he may have feared his flying licence might not be renewed on medical grounds.

Friends have told how Lubitz had a life-long obsession with flight, posting pictures of planes all over his walls as a child and taking gliding lessons at the age of just 14. 

Lubitz had built his whole life around becoming a pilot - with one friend saying 'would have died' if he had not have passed his flying exams - and even became a flight attendant while he waited to start his training. 

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Killer in the cockpit: Andreas Lubitz - pictured competing in a half-marathon in 2013 - was reportedly in the middle of a 'relationship crisis' when he crashed the Germanwings airliner into the Alps, killing himself and 149 others

Slipped through the net: Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had suffered from depression and ‘burnout’ which had held up his career

He was facing a potential medical examination that could have seen his pilot's licence removed and it is thought he may have feared mental or other health problems would bring an end to his dream.

Former BA pilot Alastair Rosenschein said pilots of Lubitz's age face regular medicals as well as simulator tests and can be grounded if they fail to pass. He told MailOnline: 'He may have known that his career was already over. He may have known that the end was in sight.'

Mr Rosenschein said that, in Britain, pilots under 40 face annual or bi-annual medicals and, as well as testing physical health, doctors often ask questions to assess pilots' mental health.

He added: 'However, it's difficult to see how a doctor could foresee something like this. There are no rules that someone who is having marital or financial difficulties cannot fly, I think the best way these things are identified if another pilot comes in an effectively "shops" another, but pilot's aren't very good at doing that.'  

Other possible explanations for Lubitz's actions are that he may have stopped taking his medication so it would not be detected in any medical tests or slipped into desperation during a crisis in his relationship.

The investigation was yesterday focused on Lubitz’s medical history and mysterious personal life, which police believe hold the key to why a man given the trust of an airline and its passengers could effectively murder them.

The disclosures will raise more questions for Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, as to how he was allowed to fly a passenger plane when he was known to suffer from depression – and to have suffered burnout and mental illness.

Lawyers believe the families of victims could win up to £100million in a joint action against Lufthansa and Germanwings, which had claimed Lubitz was ‘100 per cent fit to fly’ but then admitted he slipped through their safety net. 

Under the 1999 Montreal Convention, airlines are liable to pay £105,000 for each death – but may be forced to pay more if they are shown to have been negligent. Lufthansa last night offered up to 50,000 euros in immediate financial assistance per passenger.

The astonishment of the bereaved was summed up yesterday by Christian Driessens, from Belgium, whose brother Claude died in the crash. 

He said: ‘Looking back, I slowly start to be angry. I don’t understand how a serious company can let a depressed man pilot a plane.

‘Because the boy was depressed, it was necessary to say he was. It’s not normal to leave somebody by himself in charge, and who shuts the doors, I’m very angry.'

Relatives spoke of their anger as the recovery operation continued at the crash site, where police today announced they have so far recovered between 400 and 600 pieces of human remains from the 150 people who died. 

Crash site: Recovery workers are still scouring the area where the plane crashed down and have recovered the bodies of some of those killed

Search teams continue to scour the crash site, in which debris and human remains were scattered over an area of two square miles

Rescuers workers earlier today said they have recovered the bodies of 14 of the 150 victims and returned them to the base of the mountain

In a statement released this lunchtime, Ralf Herrenbrueck, a spokesman for the German prosecutors office, revealed that torn-up sick notes for the day of the crash 'support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues'.

Mr Herrenbrueck said documents found indicated 'an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment', but he didn't confirm details of what illness Lubitz was suffering from. 

Reports from German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung suggest documents were found both at his flat in Dusseldorf, and his parents' address near Montabaur. 

The newspaper also claims Lubitz had received treatment from a number of different physicians in psychiatric treatment. It is understood that one of them, based in the Rhineland, had provided him a certificate that wrote him off sick for some length of time. 

Speaking to the Guardian today, Dr Hans-Werner Teichmüller, the president of Deutscher Fliegerarztverband, an association of German doctors examinations on pilots and crew, described Lubitz's actions as 'incomprehensible'.

He told the newspaper: 'It’s utterly irresponsible that he flew even though he had a certificate saying he was not ready to work, and was therefore unfit to fly. Everything he did was highly criminal.' 

A spokesman for Germanwings told MailOnline that under German employment law it was the responsibility of an employee to inform an employer if they were deemed unfit to work. 

He said: ''We do not have the right to ask for this medical information from any employee. It is their responsibility to tell their superior, to tell their employer if they are sick.' He said doctors could not step in as the data would be protected. 

He added that Germanwings was responsible for annual medical assessments carried out for their pilots - bi-annually for those over the age of 40 - and that they could act on the results of those assessments.

Germanwings said later that the company had not been aware of Lubitz’s sicknote. In a statement, the company said: 'Germanwings would like to clarify that no medical note was presented to the firm for this day'.

German police are now investigating whether Lubitz had stopped taking any medication he was on and have questioned chemists at the Apotheke am Breidenplatz close to Lubitz's Dusseldorf flat.

Lubitz regularly collected a prescription from the pharmacy, MailOnline understands. A chemist at the Apotheke confirmed she had spoken to the police but declined to offer any details.

The chemist told MailOnline: 'The police have visited the pharmacy this morning. But I cannot talk about anything that occurs inside the pharmacy. We are required to protect all information about patients.' 

A clinic in Dusseldorf issued a statement yesterday saying that Lubitz had undergone treatment and ‘diagnostic evaluation’ with them for six weeks ending on March 10 but this had not been related to depression or mental illness. It is unclear if Germanwings had been aware of this.

The hospital says it has submitted Lubitz’s patient record to prosecutors in Dusseldorf.

As well as having been signed off from training with depression in 2008, it was reported this morning that Lubitz had continued to receive mental health support up until this week's crash.

New information about Lubitz's life emerged just hours after police investigating the disaster began a four-hour search of his flat, which he is said to have shared with a girlfriend. 

Yesterday, the boss of Germanwings admitted Lubitz had slipped through the ‘safety net’ and should never have been flying. It was also revealed that the fitness fanatic had suffered from depression and ‘burnout’ which had held up his career.

He reportedly received a year and half of psychiatric treatment and was at one point recommended to be examined by a doctor before flying. But, incredibly, he passed his psychological assessments and was later considered fit to fly. 

Germany’s Federal Aviation Office confirmed this morning that Lubitz had a medical condition noted in his pilot’s records which required him to have a regular examination. 

It was reported this morning that during his education at the Lufthansa Flight School in Phoenix, Arizona, he was listed temporarily as 'unflyable'. 

Analysis: Police officers carry DNA samples of victims of the disaster to be tested at a mobile laboratory set up near the crash site

Samples: Investigators at the Germanwings crash site revealed they have retrieved more than 400 body parts belonging to the disaster's 150 victims - but have not found an intact body. Above, DNA testing is carried out in the makeshift forensics laboratory near the crash site

It also emerged that on several occasions he was downgraded at flight school due to depression and in 2009 suffered a serious ‘depressive episode'. 

Lubitz seemed overwhelmed by stress after he started his pilot training course with Lufthansa, said the boss of fast food restaurant where he had previously worked. Detlef Aldolf told the Guardian that in 2009 Lubitz came into the Burger King near Montabaur.

He said: ‘I asked him how it was. He replied, “Too much stress. I’m going to take a break”.’

It was also suggested that Lubitz - who had worked as a cabin attendant for nearly a year before being accepted for flight training - may have been teased by other pilot's over his previous role.

A friend said: 'His nickname was "Tomato Andy" - a reference to his past employment as a flight steward'.  

Another friend told German newspaper Bild: 'He always had high ambitions but was considered to be second-league because he had been a flight attendant. He always wanted to fly long distance, above all to San Francisco. But he was always put off. Only later was he eventually allowed to fly European routes.'

Lubitz was said to be in a 'relationship crisis' with his girlfriend, whom German media claimed he had been with for seven years, in the weeks before the crash and was struggling to cope with a potential break-up, Bild reported this morning. 

Detectives are ‘vigorously’ investigating the possibility that heartbreak was behind the pilot’s horrific actions, Bild said.

Police refused to comment on who else lived with him in the smart top floor flat on the outskirts of Dusseldorf. Neighbours said the Lubitz's girlfriend was believed to be with her family 'grieving'. Police will want to interview her in detail about her boyfriend’s state of mind.

Lubitz is believed to have purchased two Audis from a dealership on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, near the apartment where he lived with his girlfriend - and planned to give one to her.

One of the cars had been delivered last weekend, just three days before the tragedy, Focus magazine reported. 

Habibalah Hassani, 53, who runs a pizza restaurant close to their flat said he had often seen the couple together.

He told MailOnline: 'They were a very nice, friendly young couple. She was a polite and attractive woman. They would come in once maybe twice a week. He used to tip well, he was very generous.

'He had told me about his trip to San Francisco. I hadn't seen them for a couple of months before this happened.' 

Potential breakthrough: German detectives carry evidence boxes from the 28-year-old's apartment on the outskirts of Dusseldorf on Thursday

Police also searched the home of Lubitz's parents in Montabaur. The co-pilot's parents were in Marseille when his involvement emerged

German detectives were also pictured carrying computer equipment from Lubitz's family home in the small town north of Frankfurt

It is believed Lubitz may have known the area his plane crashed in, having visited it with a gliding club when he was in his teens.

Ernst Müller, of Montabaur aviation club told Le Parisien: 'I am certain that Andreas has participated at least once or two internships with us

Fellow memeber Dieter Wagner added: 'Andreas has participated in one of these courses in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence with my niece, who was a good friend to him. He was passionate about the Alps and even obsessed.'

In a blunt admission yesterday, Carsten Spohr, the head of Lufthansa which owns the budget airline, admitted Lubitz had slipped through the safety net with devastating consequences.

‘The pilot had passed all his tests, all his medical exams,’ he said. ‘He was 100 per cent fit to fly without any restrictions. 

'We have at Lufthansa, a reporting system where crew can report – without being punished – their own problems, or they can report about the problems of others without any kind of punishment. All the safety nets we are all so proud of here have not worked in this case.’

Yesterday, as repercussions of Tuesday’s tragedy sent shockwaves through the airline industry:

• Airlines across Europe reviewed safety rules and insisted that no pilot should be left alone in the cockpit;
• Police urgently probed the background of Lubitz amid rumours that his personal life was seriously troubled;
• Detectives have carried out a four-hour search of his flat, but are not thought to have found a suicide note.

Prosecutors yesterday revealed chilling recordings from the doomed aircraft showing that piano teacher’s son Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit so he could crash the plane into an alpine ravine.

In audio files extracted from the plane's cockpit voice recorder - discovered on Wednesday at the remote crash site - the captain was heard growing increasingly distressed as he tried to force his way back into the flight deck. 

Reports in Germany this morning suggest the locked-out pilot may have resorted to using an axe in a desperate bid to get through the armoured door as the plane hurtled towards the ground.

However, it was claimed later today that the only axe on board the plane would have been in the cockpit, meaning the captain would not have had access to it.

Residents join airline staff in a memorial service for the victims of the Germanwings crash at St-Lambertus-Kirche in Dusseldorf, Germany

Mourners comfort each other after a memorial service in Haltern am See, home to the 16 schoolchildren and two teachers who died in the crash

Service: Students of the Joseph-Koenig Gymnasium - sixteen of whose students and two of whose teachers died in the tragedy as they returned from an exchange trip to Spain - arrive for a memorial service in Haltern, Germany today

Mark of respect: Firefighters stand in front of candles and flowers on the steps to the Joseph-Koenig high school in Haltern

Last night police raided Lubitz’s family home in a small town north of Frankfurt and an apartment in Dusseldorf, taking away a computer, laptop and other files. Lubitz is understood to have split his time between the two addresses.

Following last night's search of his flat, a police spokesman said: ‘We have discovered a number of things at his apartment which we will now examine and carry tests on to see if they are significant.

'We do not yet know of what significance they are,' said the spokesman, adding: 'No crucial piece of evidence has been found yet.' 

Airline chiefs confirmed Lubitz, who won an award for ‘outstanding’ aviation skills and dubbed himself ‘Flying Andy’, took several months off work in 2008 and had to retrain to join Germanwings. 

They are said to have been ‘stunned’ by the revelation that Lubitz waited for his captain to visit the toilet – and then locked him out

The picture of Lubitz which is emerging from his home town and Dusseldorf is of a man who, since he was boy, was determined to become an airline pilot - but who was repeatedly held back by mental health problems. 

A friend told Passauer Neue Presse: 'He wanted to become a pilot but he is mentally unstable.' 

At an extraordinary press conference yesterday, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin gave a disturbing account of the cockpit voice recordings extracted from black box. He said Lubitz locked his captain out after the senior officer left the flight deck.

At that point, Lubitz used the flight managing system to put the plane into a descent, something that can only be done manually - and deliberately. 

He said: 'The intention was to destroy the plane. Death was instant. The plane hit the mountain at 700kmh (430mph).

'I don't think that the passengers realised what was happening until the last moments because on the recording you only hear the screams in the final seconds'.  

Referring to Lubitz, Mr Robin said: 'He did this for a reason which we don't know why, but we can only deduct that he destroyed this plane. We have asked for information from the German investigation on both his profession and personal background'. 

Mr Robin said he had no known links with terrorism, adding: 'There is no reason to suspect a terrorist attack.'

And asked whether he believed the crash that killed 150 people was the result of suicide, he said: 'People who commit suicide usually do so alone... I don't call it a suicide.' 

Mr Robin, who had earlier briefed the families of the dead – and separately those of both pilots – said the screams of passengers aware of their fate could be heard in the final seconds of the recording.

Relatives of those killed in the crash visited the area yesterday. Locals in the Alps have offered to put them up, while Germanwings is setting up a family assistance centre in Marseille

Germanwings spokesman Thomas Winkelmann said: 'Our focus in these darkest hours is to provide psychological assistance to the families and friends of the victims of flight 4U9525.

'The suffering and pain this catastrophe has caused is immeasurable. No words can express it and no amount of consolation is sufficient but we want to be there for visiting family members and friends if our support is desired.' 

It also emerged today that his parents only discovered that their son was a mass murderer just minutes before the bombshell press conference by prosecutors in Marseille.

His mother, a piano teacher, and father, a successful businessman, were understood to be in the French city at the time of the announcement, but kept separate from the victims' relatives.

Their whereabouts are now unknown, but it is believed they are being questioned by police.  Lubitz’s father Gunter and mother have both been questioned by police and are said to be ‘devastated’ by the revelations.

The couple's £400,00 two-storey detached home in Montabaur, a town 40 miles from Bonn where Lubitz is thought to have grown up, was also searched by detectives.

As a child, Lubitz is said to have always wanted to be a pilot and covered his bedroom walls with pictures of planes and collected model aircraft.

Touching: Photographs and handwritten notes were left in tribute by friends and family who visited the memorial near the crash site

Grief: Relatives of the victims overcome with emotion after attending a tribute in honour of their loved ones in Le Vernet, France on Thursday

In memory: French authorities installed an engraved stone tribute to the victims, where mourners gathered to lay flowers and candles

AIRLINES INTRODUCE BANS ON PILOTS BEING LEFT ALONE IN COCKPIT - DESPITE FEARS OF INCREASED TERROR RISK

A string of airlines last night introduced emergency rules to prevent pilots ever being left alone in the cockpit.

In an attempt to prevent a repetition of the Germanwings disaster, a senior crew member will stay on the flight deck if one of the pilots is not there.

The Civil Aviation Authority urged airlines to review their rules to avoid the pilot or co-pilot being alone at the controls.

Flybe, easyJet, Emirates, Thomas Cook, Norwegian Air and Virgin Atlantic all said they would make this company policy.

Philip Baum, editor of Aviation Security International, said the tragedy was partly due to 'knee-jerk' controls introduced after 9/11.

He told the Independent: 'The ill-thought reinforced cockpit door has had catastrophic consequences.' 

Mr Baum said thinking about airline safety had been skewed by the 2001 terror attacks, adding that there had been 'excessive attention given to terrorism' and a 'failure to address other threats to aviation security'.

Critics say knee-jerk measures such as the reinforced cockpit doors brought in after 9/11 contributed to the tragedy

The CAA ‘advises’ another staff member should stand in if one of the pilots has to leave to get a drink or go to the toilet.

But until now, one person was deemed sufficient and having a second person at all times was ‘voluntary’. However, the latest tragedy will heap pressure on airlines that do not follow the advice. 

A CAA statement said: ‘Following the details that have emerged regarding the tragic Germanwings incident, we are co-ordinating closely with colleagues at the European Aviation Safety Agency and have contacted all UK operators to require them to review all relevant procedures.’

The authority added that it had made the change ‘in the light of the latest developments in France’ that revealed the pilot of flight 9525 was locked out of the cockpit.

While the CAA said the switch will remain voluntary, an industry insider said: ‘There is some industry chatter about the policy becoming mandatory.’

Budget carrier easyJet was one of the first to announce the change. A spokesman said: ‘easyJet can confirm that, with effect from March 27, it will change its procedure which will mean that two crew members will be in the cockpit at all times.’ A crew member will temporarily enter the cockpit if the pilot or co-pilot needs the toilet.

Tour operator Thomas Cook said: ‘We are adapting our procedures to ensure there will always be two people in the cockpit.’

Ryanair, Flybe, Monarch and Jet2, which flies from the Midlands, the North and Scotland, said they already had policies to ensure two crew are in the cockpit at all times.

Monarch’s spokesman added: ‘We also have an “eyes-on” rule requiring cabin crew to enter the cockpit during the cruising stage to check on the pilot and co-pilot.’

BMI Regional declined to comment, while a British Airways spokesman said: ‘It’s not something we’re going to get drawn into. It’s not that we’ve not decided; we’re choosing not to comment.’ The airline said it classed cockpit seating as a security issue and never discussed such matters.

Virgin Atlantic said having two people on the flight deck at all times was ‘common practice’ but it is now ‘formalising’ this.

But while most airlines have rushed to comply with the CAA advice, pilots’ union Balpa accused the authority of ‘jumping to a solution’ that could ‘create different risks’.

Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, was also undecided last night. A spokesman said: ‘So far, no decision has been taken to change the procedure … but we will look into it. So far, we trust our procedure.’

Flying with two people constantly in the cockpit is standard practice in the US. Long-haul flights usually have more than two crew on board who are capable of flying the plane.

But veteran British pilot has accused EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic of being 'irresponsible' and 'playing to the gallery' in response to the Germanwings disaster.

The two airlines are changing procedures to ensure two crew are in the cockpit at all times following the Germanwings tragedy that killed 150 people.

But Tony Newton, who has flown A320 Airbuses for 20 years, said that such policy changes would mean that the cockpit door would be open for longer, allowing potential terrorists a greater opportunity to rush in and take the controls.

'This was a knee-jerk response that could introduce lots of attendant risks that could make matters worse', he said. 'The CAA said that safety policy should be reviewed, but it didn't intend airlines to take immediate action for the sake of the headlines.'

'There is not a great deal of evidence to suggest that an extra person on the flight deck could do anything anyway,' he said.

'If someone is hellbent on crashing the plane, he could probably take the other person by surprise and overpower them. There may be some benefit, but it needs to be weighed up against the attendant risks.'

Final photograph: Iranian sports journalist Hussein Javadi (right) took this picture (left) moments before boarding the doomed plane

The mother of a former schoolmate of Lubitz said he had told her daughter he had taken a break from pilot training because he was suffering from depression. ‘Apparently he had a burnout,’ she added.

The grief of victims' families visiting the scene of the crash yesterday turned to anger when they heard the pilot was to blame.

An interpreter who worked with them told La Provence newspaper: 'At first they were very calm, dignified. They wanted to know if their loved ones had suffered.'

But after the truth of what happened emerged, the mood changed, the interpreter said. 'There were screams, some people broke down in tears. It was very hard for them and us, too.' 

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged patience on Friday but said the German airline had an obligation to share all information on Lubitz with investigators.

Mr Valls told iTELE: 'It is up to this company to provide a maximum of information so that we can understand why this pilot committed this dreadful act.'

The Germanwings tragedy has already led to a number of developments in the airline industry. 

The Civil Aviation Authority called on UK airline operators to review safety procedures, and easyJet was among several airlines to introduce rules so that two crew members are in the cockpit at all times. 

Compensation payouts from the tragedy could total more than £100million, with the families of each victim given around £700,000 each, depending on the victim's earning ability.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the revelations gave the tragedy a ‘new, simply incomprehensible dimension’. 

The fate of the Germanwings plane has chilling similarities to that of LAM flight 470 which crashed in Namibia in November 2013, killing all 27 passengers and six crew.

Air crash investigators believe the Embraer 190 jet was flown into the ground by the captain after his co-pilot went to the toilet.

In that case, the jet's captain, Herminio dos Santos Fernandes, was believed to have had serious personal problems at the time of his death.

When his co-pilot went to the toilet, flight data information recovered from the scene found that Fernandes manually changed the aircraft's altitude from 38,000 feet to almost 600 feet below ground level. He also pushed the aircraft's throttles back to idle and selected the jet's maximum operating speed.

Disturbingly, the cockpit voice recorder picked up the sound of the co-pilot pounding on the door in an attempt to regain access to the flight deck. 

Carsten Spohr (right), the head of Lufthansa, admitted Lubitz (left) had slipped through the safety net with devastating consequences

Investigation:  French prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation for what appears to be a case of suicide involving mass murder

Recovery: A rescue worker is lifted to a helicopter with what appears to be the body of a victim from the crash

Search: Teams working in the difficult Alpine terrain clear scattered crash debris and search for bodies and belongings

Burnout and depression... inside troubled mind of suicide pilot

From David Wilkes in London and Inderdeep Bains in Montabaur, Germany 

Lubitz had told friends he wanted to fly long-haul to San Francisco, California

Posing by San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Andreas Lubitz looks like a young man without a care in the world.

Having realised his dream of becoming an airline pilot – one pursued since boyhood – the clean-cut, athletic young man had every reason to be happy.

But investigators will now attempt to find out what lurked beneath the smile in that photograph, after it emerged that Lubitz ‘intentionally’ crashed Germanwings Flight 9525, killing all 150 on board.

Yesterday a disturbing picture of the 28-year-old’s state of mind began to emerge. There were claims he had suffered ‘burnout’ and depression during his pilot training, leading him to take a break of several months.

The pilot had lived in a smart top-floor flat in a modern block on the outskirts of Dusseldorf, the city for which his doomed flight from Barcelona was bound. He reportedly shared the property with a girlfriend.

He split his time between the flat and his family home in an affluent, middle-class suburb in Montabaur – population 12,500 – in the woody hills of west Germany. He shared the impressive detached property, worth half a million euros, with his mother, a piano teacher, and his businessman father. Neighbours said he also had a younger brother.

Plain clothed and uniformed officers entered both properties yesterday afternoon carrying evidence bags and forensic boxes.

Montabaur locals struggled to reconcile the Lubitz they knew with the man who killed his colleagues and passengers. They spoke instead of a fitness fanatic, who ran the Frankfurt half-marathon in 2013, 2012 and 2011 alongside his father, with a best time of one hour and 37 minutes.

Johannes Rossbach, 23, who lives two doors away from the Lubitzes, said he would regularly see Andreas jogging through the neighbourhood. ‘He was very polite. He would always say hello and goodbye. There certainly seemed nothing out of the ordinary about him,’ he said.

‘The news is absolutely shocking. I can’t believe someone like that would kill 149 other people.’

At the Lufts Sports Club, where Lubitz learned to fly gliders as a teenager, members recalled how thrilled he had been to secure a job with Germanwings. 

Peter Ruecker remembered him as ‘rather quiet but friendly’ when he first showed up at the club, a five-minute drive from his home, as a 14-year-old who wanted to fly. 

After obtaining his glider licence as a teenager, Lubitz was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee after studying at the local high school. It was at this point, after leaving home to begin his pilot training, that his troubles began to emerge. Lubitz reportedly suffered a breakdown, taking six months’ leave before being allowed to return to flight school.

Investigators enter Lubitz's house on the outskirts of Dusseldorf yesterday as the probe into the crash continues

Klaus Radke, chairman of the LSC Westerwald aviation club where Lubitz was a member, described the Germanwings co-pilot as 'normal'. Peter Ruecker (right) of the glider club in Montabaur who watched Lubitz learn to fly, said the pilot showed no signs of depression

The mother of one of Lubitz’s schoolmates told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper he had revealed to her daughter he had taken a break from his training due to a bout of depression.

‘Apparently he had a burnout, he was in depression,’ she said. She added that her daughter had seen Lubitz again just before Christmas, and that he had appeared normal.

Carsten Spohr, the chief executive of Lufthansa – Germanwings’ parent company – confirmed that Lubitz took a break from his training for several months in 2009, but did not elaborate why.

Lubitz’s training resumed after ‘the suitability of the candidate was re-established’, he said.

Later, Mr Spohr told CNN that Lubitz had passed all his tests and medical exams, and gave no voluntary indication that he was unstable or mentally ill.

‘We have at Lufthansa a reporting system where crew can report, without being punished, their own problems, or they can report about problems of others without any kind of punishment,’ he said.

‘That hasn’t been used either in this case, so all these safety nets we are so proud of here have not worked in this case.’

According to the airline, Lubitz trained at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen, as did Flight 9525 captain Patrick Sonderheimer. After qualifying as a pilot in 2008, Lubitz first worked as a flight steward and then became a first officer for budget airline Germanwings in September 2013.

Under guard: Police keep the media away from the house where pilot Andreas Lubitz sometimes lived with his parents in Montabaur, Germany

Mr Sonderheimer, a father of two, joined the firm in May 2014 after working for Lufthansa for ten years. He had flown for more than 6,000 hours, making him far more experienced than Lubitz, who clocked up only 630 hours at the controls.

This may have included a trip to London and back last Sunday, according to reports in Germany.

Yesterday Lubitz’s flying club’s chairman Klaus Radke said he had been ‘very proud to be a professional pilot’, and had seemed his ‘normal, open-minded’ self when he attended a barbecue with a girlfriend last year.

Shocked at the suggestion Lubitz intentionally crashed, Mr Radke said: ‘He did his flight training in the club from an early age. He was a very calm and very precise young man.’

The club had posted a tribute to Lubitz online – but withdrew it in the light of yesterday’s revelations.

Germany’s interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said there was no indication of Lubitz having ‘a terrorist background’, echoing comments by French officials.

Professor Robert Bor, a specialist aviation psychologist in London, said: ‘Taking an aircraft full of passengers with you and flying in to a mountain suggests you are trying to destroy all the evidence of your suicide attempt.

‘But as we have the black box and the recording, he was not very successful in hiding it - if indeed that is what has happened. We need to look in to the mind of the person. Unfortunately he is no longer alive but we do leave so-called psychological footprints before we act in this kind of way.’

Dr Bor said it was also possible it was ‘an impulsive act at the time’ but said it was much more likely to be an issue with the personal life of the pilot.

Investigators are now delving in to every aspect of the personal life of Andreas Lubitz to uncover any clues about his mental state. This will include looking in detail at his personal relationships.

Lubitz travelled to the Las Marenas Resort in Miami with a male friend in November 2011. A Facebook post from the time stated that he and his friend were enjoying sunbathing and swimming.

A Montabaur neighbour, Ulrika, told Bavarian radio: ‘Everybody is stunned in this town to learn the news. He grew up here, went to school here, and came back most weekends from Dusseldorf when he wasn’t flying. This is a great loss to us, and we are perplexed to think that he might have caused the deaths of so many people.’

HOW ACCESS TO THE COCKPIT DOOR CAN BE DISABLED FROM THE INSIDE

The Airbus A320 is fitted with a locking mechanism to prevent unauthorised access to the flight deck while the aircraft is in flight. 

The safety systems were improved in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks where hijackers were able to gain access to the cockpit and take over the aircraft.

In normal flight, the door to the flight is closed and locked. 

Cabin crew can use a code and gain access to the flight deck. Entry is controlled by the flight crew, in case of a possible hijack attempt. 

The Cockpit Door Locking System (CDLS) according to the flight manual 'provides a means of electrically locking and unlocking the cockpit door'.  

The CDLS is located in the central pedestal between both pilots and has a toggle switch which controls the door. 

They also have a CCTV camera so they can see who is seeking access, and if they are under any form of duress. 

Pilots can restrict access to the flight deck although cabin crew can gain entry in an emergency. However, this emergency access can be over-ridden by the pilot for between five to 20 minutes.

The limited time to keep the door closed is itself a safety feature, in case the flight crew become incapacitated - known in the industry as 'incap'. 

Switch: Cockpit doors can be locked from the inside by pilots - making the door virtually impregnable to anyone trying to get in 

After the predeterminted time, the keypad on the outside of the cockpit door will become operational again, unless the pilot actively restricts access again. 

Also the cockpit door has several other safety features in case of a sudden decompression which will cause the door to open.  

According to the flight manual there are 'routine' and 'emergency' access requests. 

'The toggle switch enables the flight crew to lock or unlock the cockpit door, following an access request, thereby allowing or denying the entry to the cockpit.'  

The flight manual states that the control unit is responsible for: 

• Locking or unlocking the door latches, upon flight crew action
• Unlocking the door i, in case of cockpit decompression (the door then opens towards the cockpit under differential pressure)
• Indicating system failures of electrical latches and pressure sensors
• Activating the access request buzzer and turning on the keypad LEDs 

On the Airbus A320, there are three settings: 

• Unlock: This position is used to enable the cabin crew member to open the door. The switch must be pulled and maintained in the unlocked position until the door is pushed open. 
• Normal: All latches are locked, and EMERGENCY access is possible for the cabin crew
• Lock: Once the button has been moved to this position, the door is locked; emergency access, the buzzer, and the keypad are inhibited for a preselected time (5 to 20 min) 

'In the last seconds, we only hear screams'

By David Williams, Chief Reporter 

The awful, anguished screams of the passengers as they realised the plane was just moments from smashing into the Alps are among the last sounds recorded before the jet hit the ground at more than 430mph and broke into thousands of pieces.

Yesterday Marseille public prosecutor Brice Robin gave the first detailed account of what unfolded in the final 40 minutes of Flight 4U9525:

Harrowing: Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin, left, with rescue chief General David Galtier yesterday

10.01am: Germanwings Flight 4U9525 takes off from Barcelona bound for Dusseldorf with an expected flight time of just under two hours: First officer Andreas Günter Lubitz and the plane’s captain, pilot Patrick Sonderheimer were ‘friendly’ and ‘spoke naturally’ during a ‘very normal conversation’, according to the cockpit voice recorder. Conditions were good and, according to Mr Robin, the captain briefed Lubitz on the expected approach.

10.27am: The captain, a father-of-two with ten years’ flying experience, is heard handing command of the flight to Lubitz so he can take a toilet break. Public prosecutor Mr Robin said: ‘We hear the pilot asking the co-pilot to take over and we hear the sound of a chair being pushed back and a door closing so we assume that the captain went to the toilet or something.

‘So the co-pilot is on his own, and it is while he’s on his own that the co-pilot is in charge of the plane and uses the flight management system to start the descent of the plane.’

Lubitz was sitting in this cockpit, pictured, when he commanded the jet to crash into the Alps at 400mph

10.29am: Passengers would have been aware that the plane, after reaching its cruising height of 38,000ft, was gradually dropping because the skies were clear, affording stunning views of the snow-capped southern Alps growing ever closer below.

The plane’s descent was smooth and gradual, there had been no announcement that anything was wrong, the cabin crew had served soft drinks and fellow passengers were walking down the aisle to the toilets and to speak with one another.

In fact, Lubitz appears to have left the autopilot engaged – turning a small dial on the instrument panel to select lower and lower altitudes while leaving the aircraft’s direction unchanged.

One aviation tracking service said the autopilot was switched to descend to 100ft, its lowest possible setting.

Mr Robin said: ‘You need deliberately to turn it. The action is deliberate. It was a voluntary action.’

At this point, the captain attempts to get back on to the flight deck. The reinforced door is locked and, according to Mr Robin, ‘we hear several calls from the pilot to access the cockpit’. The reinforced door can be double-locked from within.

Debris from the jet, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, was found near Barcelonnette

German and Spain flags symbolising some of the nationalities of the victims are seen as family members and relatives gather for a ceremony in Le Vernet near the crash site of the Airbus A320 in the French Alps

It had begun with a gentle tap at the door, grown to fierce knocking and then, as Sonderheimer realised what was happening, to an attempt to break down a door that had been reinforced with steel to prevent hijacking.

In their seats, the majority of passengers would have been unaware of the growing panic. The door is screened first by the galley and then by a curtain. Mr Robin said: ‘We hear several shouts from the captain asking to get in, speaking through the intercom system, but there’s no answer from the cockpit.’ He added that ‘means we are speaking of a deliberate action to refuse to open the door.. for the commander’.

10.32am: Lubitz was silent for the final eight minutes before the jet ploughed into the Alps. But his breathing could be heard until the moment of impact. In Marseille, air traffic controllers, noticing the plane’s rapid descent, try to contact the aircraft, but receive no response.

Controllers also ask other planes in the area to try to contact Flight 4U9525 – again, there is no response. At some point the low altitude triggers an alarm inside the plane. Mr Robin said: ‘There are alarm systems which indicate to all those on board the proximity of the ground.

‘Then we hear noises of someone trying to break into the door.’

10.40am: By now passengers are aware something terrible is going on. As well as hearing the alarm, the sky was clear and they will have seen the Alps and realised the plane was heading down. At no point, according to the prosecutor, was a Mayday call made.

In the most chilling part of yesterday’s press conference, Mr Robin told assembled media: ‘We only hear screams in the last seconds.’ Then came the final impact. He added: ‘Death was instant.’

Relatives of the victims of the Germanwings air crash attend a tribute in honour of their loved ones in Le Vernet, south-eastern France

Wednesday: Many of the families of those on board had chosen to travel by car or bus from both Germany and Spain rather than fly to Marseilles from where they visited the mountainside near the Alpine village of Digne-les-Bains.

They would have seen the aerial photographs of the site 6,200ft up where debris and remains have been scattered over an area of one square mile but little could have prepared them for what they saw from helicopters and the ground.

The families were taken to a zone overlooking the crash site where counsellors, psychologists and translators were on standby. A chapel adorned with flowers and books for relatives to write tributes was then visited while a hall was made available for those wishing to stay overnight.

Helicopters had begun winching the remains of victims, found scattered across the scree-covered slopes, to nearby Seyne-les-Alpes yesterday. In a bizarre twist, Lubitz’s own family had travelled to the scene together with his fellow pilot to meet with families – and to visit the crash site.

Yesterday: Those families were coming to terms with the growing horror that their relatives had been, in effect, murdered en-masse. They are said to have been ‘deeply shaken’ by the revelation that it was not an accident and Lubitz had crashed the plane.

The prosecutor said he had shared the details of the last moments of their loved ones with the relatives shortly before he made public Lubitz’s horrific act. He said: ‘The families are in a state of shock and find it hard to believe.’

Esteban Rodriguez, whose friends Rogelio Oficialdegui and Manuel Rives, were among 50 Spaniards who died in Tuesday’s crash, said he had ‘a feeling of impotence, of rage’.

16 TEENAGERS, TWO BABIES AND A FATHER OF TWO: THE VICTIMS OF THE DOOMED GERMANWINGS  FLIGHT

Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said those who died came from at least 13 different countries - with 72 German nationals and 49 people from Spain confirmed to have been on passenger lists for the plane. 

There has been some confusion over numbers of passengers and countries they are from, because of dual nationalities.  

Youngest victim: Seven-month-old Julian Pracz-Bandres, pictured with his mother Marina Bandres (also right), died when the Airbus crashed

UK

Martyn Matthews, a father-of-two with another child on the way. Mr Matthews, of Wolverhampton, was on business in Barcelona. 

Marina Bandrés López-Belio, from Huesca, was travelling with her seven-month-old baby Julian from her uncle's funeral in Zaragoza. 

They had been living in Manchester. Ms Lopez-Belio had not been able to fly home direct to Manchester, so had opted for a flight to Dusseldorf. 

Paul Andrew Bramley, 28, originally from Hull, was also a passenger on the flight, the Foreign Office confirmed.  

US 

U.S. government contractor Yvonne Selke, 57, and her graduate daughter Emily, of Nokesville, Virginia, were both passengers on the doomed flight.

Yvonne was a long-serving and highly regarded employee of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., while Emily graduated from Drexel University, Philadelphia, in 2013.

Raymond Selke confirmed on Wednesday that his wife and daughter were among the 150 people who died on a Germanwings flight from Spain to Germany the day before.

In a statement, he said: 'Our entire family is deeply saddened by the losses of Yvonne and Emily Selke. Two wonderful, caring, amazing people who meant so much to so many. At this difficult time we respectfully ask for privacy and your prayers.'

A third U.S. citizen was also on the crashed plane, but the State Department has yet to release the name of the victim. 

Graduate Emily Selke, pictured, has been named as one of the two Americans killed in the crash. Her mother, U.S. government contractor Yvonne Selke, was also on board the doomed Airbus A320

Germany

Class of 16 year 10 pupils from Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium school in west Germany on an exchange trip to Barcelona

Their two Spanish teachers -  Sonja Cercek and Stefanie T.

Maria Radner, 34, an opera singer at the Deutsche Oper am Rhine in Dusseldorf. The contralto was travelling with her husband and baby after having performed in Barcelona, with fellow opera singer Oleg Bryjak, who also perished.

Thomas Treppe, a fashion consultant, had been travelling on business when the plane crashed, El Pais reported. 

María de Pablo Nuño, a Spanish teacher who had travelled to see her family in Barcelona.  

Victims: Opera singer Maria Radner (left), who was travelling with her baby, and Oleg Bryjak (right) were among those killed in the crash

Spain

Josep Sabaté Casellas, worked for Espirit and was travelling to a business meeting in Germany. He was married with three children and was believed to have a fourth child on the way. 

Teacher Pilar Vicente Sebastián, 52, had been on her way to see her two children who were studying in Dusseldorf, according to Levante. 

A newly married 23-year-old man from La Llagosta, who got married on Saturday, was travelling with his wife, es reported. 

A grandmother, her daughter and grandaughter from Sant Cugat del Vallès in Catalonia were all travelling together on a visit to Dusseldorf, according to the Huffington Post. 

Manuel Rives, 52, was a married father of three and representative for the major Spanish trade union in Delphi, reported El Pais. Colleagues were seen carrying his photo, remembering the worker, today. 

The newspaper also reported that businessman and amateur rower Carles Masanas Milla was going to a food fair in Cologne. 

Ariadna Falguera, 33, wife of a member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) party, was confirmed to have been among the passengers, according to El Pais.   

Australian victims: Mother and son Carol and Greig Friday, from Victoria, were among the 150 passengers and crew on board Flight 4U 9525

Australia 

Mother and son Carol and Greig Friday, of Victoria in Australia.  

Belgium

Christian Driessens, 59, a father and grandfather, travelled on planes almost every week for business and was fondly remembered by his family as an avid globetrotter, who loved to travel.   

Kazakhstan

Opera singer Oleg Bryjak, 54, a baritone, had just performed Richard Wagner's 'Siegfried' at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu.

School trip: These are some of the German pupils who died on the Germanwings flight. The teenagers had been on a week-long exchange trip to Barcelona and were flying home along with two of their teachers

Tragic: German schoolgirl Elena Bless, pictured, was on board the ill-fated Germanwings flight. The 16-year-old texted friends to say she missed her family just moments before the aircraft crashed in the French Alps