The Germanwings co-pilot thought to
have deliberately crashed his Airbus in the French Alps, killing 150
people, predicted "one day everyone will know my name", his
ex-girlfriend says.
In an interview with Germany's Bild newspaper, she recalled a comment Andreas Lubitz made last year.
"One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember," he told her.
Flight 4U 9525 crashed on Tuesday.
The
woman, a 26-year-old flight attendant who flew with Lubitz for five
months last year, was "very shocked" when she heard the news, the paper
says.
She is referred to only as Maria W.
If Lubitz deliberately brought down the plane, "it is because he
understood that because of his health problems, his big dream of a job
at Lufthansa, as captain and as a long-haul pilot was practically
impossible," she told Bild.
Meanwhile, German newspaper Die Welt
said that investigators had found evidence of a serious "psychosomatic
illness", and that Lubitz had been "treated by several neurologists and
psychiatrists".
Several medicines used to treat mental illnesses
were found at his home, but there were no signs of drug or alcohol
addiction, the newspaper, citing an unnamed investigator, said.
Separately, the New York Times, citing officials, reported that Lubitz had sought treatment for eye problems. Briton's father in plea to airlines
'Too much pressure'
French
investigator Jean-Pierre Michel also told the AFP news agency that the
pilot's personality was "a serious lead [in the investigation] but...
can't be the only one".
"We're going to try to understand what in
his life could have left him to carry out the act," Mr Michel said,
adding that investigators had not discovered any "particular element" so
far.
The black box voice recorder indicates that Lubitz locked his captain
out of the cockpit on Tuesday and crashed the plane into a mountainside
in what appears to have been a suicide and mass killing.
German prosecutors say they found medical documents at Lubitz's house
suggesting an existing illness and evidence of medical treatment. They
found torn-up sick notes, one of them for the day of the crash.
They say he seems to have concealed his illness from his employers.
His former girlfriend told Bild they separated, "because it became increasingly clear that he had a problem".
She said he was plagued by nightmares and would at times wake up screaming "we're going down".
She
added that he became stressed when they spoke about work: "He became
upset about the conditions we worked under: too little money, fear of
losing the contract, too much pressure."
A hospital in the German
city of Duesseldorf has confirmed Lubitz was a patient there recently
but it denied media reports that he had been treated for depression.
Lubitz's employers insisted that he had only been allowed to resume training after his suitability was "re-established".
Lubitz's health timeline
2009: Breaks off pilot training while still in his
early twenties after suffering "depressions and anxiety attacks", the
German tabloid Bild reports, quoting Lufthansa medical files. Resumes
training after 18 months of treatment, according to Bild
2013: Qualifies "with flying colours" as pilot, according to Lufthansa
2013-2015: Medical file quoted by Bild marks him as requiring "specific regular medical examination" but no details are given
February 2015: Undergoes diagnosis at Duesseldorf
University Clinic for an unspecified illness; clinic has clarified the
illness was not depression
10 March 2015: Again attends Duesseldorf University Clinic
24 March 2015:Is believed to have deliberately crashed airliner, killing himself and 149 others
26 March 2015: Prosecutors announce that two sick notes have been found torn up at his addresses in Germany
A fellow
member of the flight school where Andreas Lubitz took lessons told the
BBC the co-pilot had known the area of the French Alps where the plane
crashed from going there on gliding holidays.
A French newspaper, Metro News, reported (in French) that Lubitz had holidayed with his parents at a flying club nearby.
French police say the search for passenger remains and debris on the mountain slopes could take another two weeks.
Relatives of some of the passengers and crew who died, including the family of the captain, have visited Seyne-les-Alpes, near the crash site.
In
the aftermath of the crash, the EU's aviation regulator, the European
Aviation Safety Agency, has urged airlines to adopt new safety rules.
In future, it says, two crew members should be present in the cockpit at all times.
Lufthansa
and Germanwings have taken out full-page notices in German newspapers,
expressing their "deepest sympathy" and condolences for "the
unfathomable loss of 150 lives".
What is depression?
Depression
is more than just feeling a bit down for a few days. It is an illness
which, at its most severe, can leave people feeling that life is no
longer worth living. It can cause physical symptoms such as headaches,
sleeplessness and constant tiredness which may last for months and
months.
People with depression can also feel anxious, irritable
and agitated on a daily basis but it affects everyone differently and
only in rare cases is it a reason for violence against others.
Other incidents thought to be caused by deliberate pilot action
29 November 2013: A flight between Mozambique and
Angola crashed in Namibia, killing 33 people. Initial investigation
results suggested the accident was deliberately carried out by the
captain shortly after the first officer (also known as the co-pilot) had
left the flight deck.
31 October 1999: An EgyptAir Boeing 767 went into a
rapid descent 30 minutes after taking off from New York, killing 217
people. An investigation suggested that the crash was caused
deliberately by the relief first officer but the evidence was not
conclusive.
19 December 1997: More than 100 people were killed when
a Boeing 737 travelling from Indonesia to Singapore crashed. The pilot -
suffering from "multiple work-related difficulties" - was suspected of
switching off the flight recorders and intentionally putting the plane
into a dive.
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