The co-pilot of the Germanwings
plane that crashed in the French Alps in March appears to have practised
a rapid descent on a previous flight, a report by French investigators
says.
The report said Andreas Lubitz repeatedly set the same plane for an unauthorised descent earlier that day.
Lubitz is suspected of deliberately crashing the Airbus 320, killing all 150 people on board.
He had locked the flight captain out of the cockpit.
Lubitz
appears to have practised programming a rapid descent on the outbound
leg of the flight - from Duesseldorf to Barcelona on 24 March - the
preliminary report by accident investigation agency BEA said.
It
added that on several occasions - again with the captain out of the
cockpit - the altitude dial was set to 100ft (30m), the lowest possible
reading, despite instructions by air traffic control in Bordeaux to set
it to 35,000ft and then 21,000ft.
It was also reset on one occasion to 49,000ft, the maximum altitude.
The changes apparently happened over a five-minute period at about 07:30 starting 30 seconds after the captain left the cockpit.
Analysis: Richard Westcott, BBC Transport correspondent
When
you hear that Lubitz was feeding in extreme altitude settings of 100ft
to 49,000ft, you may have an image of the aircraft zig-zagging up and
down while he pushes and pulls on the joystick.
How then, could the captain and passengers in the back not notice something was wrong?
Well it doesn't work like that. All Lubitz would have been doing was twisting a dial on a computer in front of him.
Pilots
say that just quickly turning that dial wouldn't have led to dramatic
changes on board. In fact, the aircraft would have just kept descending
as per instructions from air traffic control.
That's why the other
pilot didn't notice. And Lufthansa said a while ago that this was the
same pilot flying with Lubitz on the aircraft he later decided to crash.
Clearly, he didn't notice anything odd about his colleague's behaviour. What happened in the final 30 minutes of Flight 4U 9525? Who was Andreas Lubitz? Six cases of suspected pilot suicide
"I can't speculate on what was happening inside his head - all I can
say is that he changed this button to the minimum setting of 100ft and
he did it several times," BEA director Remi Jouty told Reuters news
agency.
It was on the return leg on the same day - from Barcelona to Duesseldorf - that the fatal crash occurred.
Five minutes on the outbound Duesseldorf-Barcelona flight
07:19:59 - Noises corresponding to captain leaving cockpit
07:20:29 - Plane told by air traffic control to descend to 35,000ft
07:20:50 - Selected altitude changed to 100ft, increased to 49,000ft then returned to 35,000ft
07:21:10 - Plane told to descend to 21,000ft
07:22:27 - Selected altitude changes to 100ft several times
07:24:29 - Noises corresponding to captain returning to cockpit The
co-pilot is known to have suffered depression in the past. Last month
German prosecutors revealed that Lubitz had researched suicide methods
and the security of cockpit doors.
Lufthansa, Germanwings' parent
company, twice refused to renew his medical certificate in 2009 due to
depression, the BEA's preliminary report says.
When it was
revalidated, a note was attached requiring aeromedical doctors to
contact the pilot licensing authority before renewal.
The BEA report also discloses more detail of what happened on board in the minutes before the crash.
The flight data recorder appears to show Lubitz, 27, increasing the
aircraft's speed from 273 knots (505km/h, 314mph) to 345 knots on its
descent.
On 14 occasions, air traffic control and French air defence tried to contact the plane.
The
cabin intercom, knocking on the cockpit door and then "noises similar
to violent blows" are heard on the voice recorder as the captain tries
to re-enter the cockpit.
BEA is expected to release its final report in a year, with the focus on "systemic failings" and cockpit security.
The co-pilot of the Germanwings
plane crash, Andreas Lubitz, told his flight training school about a
previous bout of depression, Lufthansa has said.
The airline revealed last week Lubitz had taken a break from training, but refused to say why.
In a statement it said it had now shared documents with prosecutors, including emails from 2009.
They show Lubitz told his flight instructors "about a previous episode of severe depression". A recording from the cockpit of the aircraft suggests the 27-year-old deliberately caused the disaster last Tuesday, which killed 150 people.
Lufthansa
CEO Carsten Spohr previously said that the company was not aware of
anything that could have driven the co-pilot to crash the Airbus A320.
"He was 100% fit to fly without any restrictions or conditions," he told reporters.
Lubitz
resumed training with the airline in 2009 following his break and had
passed all medical tests, according to the company.
He eventually completed his training and started working with Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings in 2013.
'Suicidal tendencies'
German prosecutors said on Monday that Lubitz had received treatment for "suicidal tendencies".
But Lufthansa said his medical records were subject to doctor-patient confidentiality and it had no knowledge of their contents.
Meanwhile the company has set aside an additional $300m (€280m; £200m) to cover possible costs arising from the crash.
The money is separate from the $54,250 available to the relatives of each passenger to cover short-term expenses.
Airlines
are obliged to compensate relatives for proven damages of up to a limit
of about $157,000 - regardless of what caused the crash - but higher
compensation is possible if an airline is held liable.
None of the
victims were found intact after the plane's 700kph (430mph) impact, but
different strands of DNA have been identified at the site.
French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday that all 150 victims would be identified by the end of the week.
Speaking
at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in
Berlin, Mr Hollande said "exceptional scientific work" had been carried
out by the recovery team.
Andreas Lubitz: Germanwings co-pilot
Started training in 2008, at Bremen
and Arizona. Training was interrupted for some months - but he later
passed all tests and was deemed fit to fly
Working as co-pilot, or first officer, since 2013. Appeared pleased with his job
Lived in town of Montabaur, near Frankfurt, reportedly with his parents. Kept a flat in Duesseldorf and had many friends
Facebook profile suggests the active lifestyle of a keen runner, with an interest in pop music
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.
The co-pilot suspected of crashing a
German airliner into the French Alps, killing himself and 149 others,
knew the region from gliding holidays.
A member of the Montabaur
flight school where Andreas Lubitz took lessons confirmed to BBC News
the co-pilot had flown a glider over the region.
Mr Lubitz was on holiday at the time, several years ago, Dieter Wagner said.
A French newspaper reports that the co-pilot holidayed at a local flying club with his parents from the age of nine.
Investigators are trying to establish what may have motivated Mr Lubitz to seize sole control of the Airbus A320 and crash it.
German prosecutors believe he was concealing an illness from his employer, Germanwings, at the time of the crash.
Data from the voice recorder suggests the 27-year-old purposely
started an eight-minute descent into the mountains after locking the
pilot out of the flight deck.
There were no survivors when Flight
4U 9525 crashed in a remote Alpine valley on Tuesday while en route from
Barcelona in Spain to Duesseldorf in Germany.
Prosecutors say there was no evidence of a political or religious motive for his actions and no suicide note has been found.
'Obsessed' with the Alps
Mr
Lubitz flew a glider over the southern French Alps during a holiday
with the flight school in Montabaur, his home town, Dieter Wagner told
the BBC.
He had been holidaying there before he became a professional airline pilot.
Mr Wagner, who says he last saw the young man five or six years ago, was quoted by French newspaper Le Parisien (in French) as saying the co-pilot had been "passionate about the Alps and even obsessed [with them]".
Another
French news outlet, Metro News, reports that Mr Lubitz holidayed with
his parents from the age of nine at the flying club in Sisteron, 69km
(43 miles) from Le Vernet, a village near the crash site.
Quoting a "friend of his parents", the paper said in its report (in French) the family had stayed at a nearby campsite and Andreas had come across as a "normal boy".
Metro News quoted Francis Keser, a designer at the club in Sisteron, as saying Mr Lubitz had "known the area well".
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
According to
prosecutors, torn-up sick notes were found at the co-pilot's two
addresses in Germany, including one for the day of the crash.
A
hospital in the German city of Duesseldorf has confirmed Mr Lubitz was a
patient there recently but it denied media reports that he had been
treated for depression.
The theory that a mental illness such as depression had affected the
co-pilot was suggested by German media, quoting internal aviation
authority documents.
They said he had suffered a serious depressive episode while training in 2009.
He reportedly went on to receive treatment for a year and a half and was recommended regular psychological assessment.
Mr Lubitz's employers insisted that he had only been allowed to resume training after his suitability was "re-established".
French police say the search for passenger remains and debris on the mountain slopes could take another two weeks.
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.
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.
The man suspected of deliberately
crashing a Germanwings A320 plane in the French Alps required treatment
for depression, German media say.
Regular assessments were recommended in Andreas Lubitz's official notes after a serious episode some years ago.
The Barcelona-Duesseldorf plane crashed on Tuesday, killing 150 people.
Data from the plane's voice recorder suggest Mr Lubitz purposely started a descent as the pilot was locked out of the cockpit.
Several airlines have now pledged to change their rules to ensure at least two crew members are present in the cockpit at all times.
Police have searched two German properties used by Mr Lubitz, taking away boxes and a computer.
'Heavily depressive'
When Mr Lubitz finished training in 2009, he was diagnosed with a
serious depressive episode and went on to receive treatment for a year
and a half, the German news site Bild reports.
Internal documents
quoted by Bild and German broadcaster ARD say a note on Mr Lubitz's
aviation authority file recommended regular psychological assessment.
Andreas Lubitz: Germanwings co-pilot under scrutiny
Started training in 2008, at Bremen
and Arizona. Training was interrupted for some months - but he later
passed all tests and was deemed fit to fly
Working as co-pilot, or first officer, since 2013. Appeared pleased with his job
Lived in town of Montabaur, near Frankfurt, reportedly with his parents. Kept a flat in Duesseldorf and had many friends
Facebook profile suggests the active lifestyle of a keen runner, with an interest in pop music
Who was Andreas Lubitz? Mr Lubitz's employers have confirmed that his training was interrupted for several months six years ago.
But they have not said why. Carsten Spohr - the head of Lufthansa,
the German carrier that owns Germanwings - said on Thursday that Mr
Lubitz was only able to resume training after his suitability was
"re-established".
"He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colours," Mr Spohr was quoted as saying.
German
media are also reporting that investigators have found evidence of
mental health problems at Mr Lubitz's Duesseldorf flat.
Earlier,
another media report quoted a police spokesman as saying "a very
significant clue as to what has happened" had been found during the
search of the house the 27-year-old shared with his parents in
Montabaur, north of Frankfurt, without specifying what.
Police said the discovery was not a suicide note.
French
Prime Minister Manual Valls said the investigation was ongoing, but
that "everything is pointing to a criminal, crazy, suicidal action that
we cannot comprehend".
He said investigators and Lufthansa would have to "shed light on the career and profile of this pilot".
Police continued to come and go at the Montabaur house throughout
Thursday morning, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan who is outside.
She
says there are concerns for Mr Lubitz's parents, who have suffered not
just one trauma - their son dying in a crash - but the subsequent shock
of finding out he may have been responsible for the tragedy.
Axe
Based
on data from the recovered "black box" voice recorder, Marseille
prosecutor Brice Robin said on Thursday that Mr Lubitz appeared to want
to "destroy the plane".
The evidence suggested the pilot had left
the cockpit, probably to go to the toilet, during which the door was
barred. He fought unsuccessfully to get back in, he said.
Bild quotes security sources as saying that the pilot used an axe to try to break down the door.
A Germanwings spokesperson would only confirm that an emergency axe is part of the equipment on board an A320.
Family members of some of the 150 passengers and crew who died have visited Seyne-les-Alpes, near the crash site, reported Reuters news agency.
They
were accompanied by psychologists, paramedics and Red Cross workers,
and a youth centre in the town was set up to receive them, it said.
Families are providing DNA samples to allow for identification of victims' remains.
Meanwhile,
investigators continue to comb the crash site for body parts, debris
and the second "black box", which records flight data and still has not
been found three days after the plane crashed.
Flight club
Members
of the Westerwald flight club, where the co-pilot was a member,
expressed their shock at the revelations about Mr Lubitz's mental
history.
"Andreas was a very nice young man, who did his training here. He was part of the club," Peter Reucker said.
"[He was] funny, sometimes a bit quiet, but apart from that a young man like many others that we have here. He integrated well.
"I'm absolutely speechless. I have no explanation for this," Mr Reucker added.
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.
Andreas Lubitz, the young co-pilot believed to have caused Tuesday's Germanwings plane crash, started flying as a teenager.
He
first took to the skies as member of a gliding club in his home town of
Montabaur in west Germany, before fulfilling his ambition of becoming a
professional pilot.
Friends and neighbours have described him as a "quiet" but "fun" character, who was enjoying his job.
A picture from his now defunct Facebook page shows him smiling happily in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
But on the morning of the 24 March the 27-year-old's career took a dark turn. Mr Lubitz has been accused by French prosecutors of intentionally flying an Airbus 320 into the French Alps, with 150 people on board.
Now investigators are poring over his background, trying to ascertain his exact mental state in the days leading up to crash.
His parents' home in Montabaur, a small town near Frankfurt of around 12,500 people, has become the focus of media attention.
Police officers have been patrolling the quiet cul-de-sac to keep reporters and photographers away from the front door.
Mr Lubitz also had a flat in Duesseldorf, which detectives are examining for evidence. More clues about exactly what happened are expected to emerge in the coming days.
Pilot school
His keen interest in flying started about the age of 14, when he joined the LSC Westerwald e.V. glider club in Montabaur.
He
learned to fly in a sleek white ASK-21 two-seat glider and went on to
obtain his full licence, according to the club's chairman Klaus Radke.
Neighbours said running was another of his passions and he could be regularly seen jogging in the neighbourhood.
In 2007 he graduated from high school and was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee the following year, enrolling at the company's training school in Bremen.
Mr
Lubitz had a break in training about six years ago, lasting several
months, according to Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr. But his suitability
was assessed again and he resumed his studies.
Then in September 2013 he joined the Lufthansa budget airline Germanwings.
At the scene: BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill
It's an unremarkable house in a small quiet housing estate. But this
is where Andreas Lubitz is believed to have lived with his parents.
The
house with grey walls and dormer windows is now the focus of the
world's attention as investigators try to establish why he appears to
have deliberately crashed the plane.
"It's just horrible," said one neighbour as she held her little boy.
She didn't know the family well at all. But she worries now that Montabaur will always be remembered for this.
A
little while ago two people strode up to the front door escorted by
police officers. A woman, maybe in her 30s, carrying a notebook, and a
slightly older man, were let into the house and the heavy brown door
slammed shut again. He initially worked as a flight attendant, according to German news website Spiegel, before starting his role as co-pilot.
His
duties would have included monitoring instruments, communicating with
air traffic controllers and sharing control of the aircraft with the
captain. He would have also been expected to steer the plane during the
pilot's breaks, or if he or she became ill.
Lufthansa said Mr Lubitz had flown a total of 630 hours before Tuesday's fatal crash.
He underwent a regular security check on 27 January and it found
nothing untoward. Previous security checks in 2008 and 2010 also showed
no issues, the local government in Duesseldorf said.
"He was 100% fit to fly without any restrictions or conditions," Mr Spohr told reporters in Cologne.
'Very happy'
Those
who knew Mr Lubitz have described him as an affable young man, who gave
no indications he was harbouring any harmful intent.
Klaus Radke told the Associated Press that he saw him last autumn, when he returned to the club to renew his glider licence.
"He seemed very enthusiastic about his career. I can't remember anything where something wasn't right," he said.
Mr Radke rejected the prosecutor's claims that the plane was brought down intentionally. He said: "I don't see how anyone can draw such conclusions before the investigation is completed."
Peter Ruecker, a long-time member of club, also insisted Mr Lubitz seemed "very happy" during their last meeting.
"I'm just speechless. I don't have any explanation for this. Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," he said.
Mr
Robin said there were no grounds to suspect that Mr Lubitz had carried
out a terrorist attack. He refused to discuss his religious background.
"Suicide" was also the wrong word to describe actions which killed so many other people, he said.
"I don't necessarily call it suicide when you have responsibility for 100 or so lives."
Airlines across the world have begun
requiring two crew members to always be present in the cockpit, in the
wake of the French Alps crash.
A number of major Canadian, Norwegian, German and UK airlines have all pledged to change their policies.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said they will "monitor the situation" as the crash investigation develops.
Lufthansa said that no matter how good the security, ultimately nothing could stop a rogue pilot.
Medical assessments
Air
Canada, Westjet and charter airline Air Transat, Norwegian Air Shuttle,
major German airlines including Lufthansa and Air Berlin, Easyjet,
Monarch Airlines, Virgin and Thomas Cook have all confirmed they are
changing their safety policies.
The change comes after UK airlines were told to review procedures following Tuesday's Alps crash in which 150 people died.
The new procedures will mean that two crew members must always be present on the flight deck.
The
changes come after it emerged the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525
had apparently locked himself in the cockpit before crashing the plane
into the mountains below.
Monarch Airlines have introduced the new procedure with immediate affect.
Chief
Operations Officer, Nils Christy said: "The revised protocol is now
mandatory for all Monarch passenger flights. In addition to this change,
we will continue to carry out our "eyes-on" checks where cabin crew
regularly enter the flight deck during the cruising phase of the flight
to check on the Pilot and the First Officer. "
Budget airline
Easyjet has said it will require two crew members to be in the cockpit
of its aircraft at all times from Friday, 27 March.
Canada's government have issued an immediate order requiring two crew members to be in the flight deck at all times.
Transport
Minister Lisa Raitt said the government is "reviewing all policies and
procedures" and is "watching the situation in Europe closely".
German
Aviation Association, representing Germany's biggest airlines,
including Lufthansa and Air Berlin, say they plan similar rules.
Mental health
Spokeswoman
Christine Kolmar said the plan will be presented to German aviation
authorities on Friday and the airlines will implement it "as soon as
possible."
A Virgin spokeswoman said: "We always ensure we have
the highest safety standards and, while it is our common practice to
have two members of our crew in the flight deck at all times, in light
of recent events we are now in the process of formalising this to be
policy. "
And a Thomas Cook spokesman said: "We are adapting our procedures to ensure there will always be two people in the cockpit."
In
a Twitter exchange Monarch Air confirmed its policy already states that
a member of cabin crew must stand in when it is necessary for the pilot
or first officer to leave the flight deck.
The CAA said it has told all UK operators to review procedures.
All UK airline pilots undergo extensive and regular medical assessments to determine their fitness to hold a licence, it said.
Examiners are required to assess a commercial pilot's mental health at each medical examination.
Marseille
prosecutor Brice Robin said earlier the co-pilot, named as Andreas
Lubitz, was alone in the cockpit of the Germanwings plane when it
crashed in the French Alps.
The co-pilot intentionally started a descent while the pilot was locked out, he said.
Mr Robin, citing information from the "black box" voice recorder said
there was "absolute silence in the cockpit" as the pilot fought to
re-enter it.
The Airbus 320 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf hit a
mountain, killing all 144 passengers and six crew, after an eight-minute
descent.
Among those killed were Britons Paul Bramley, 28, from Hull, and Martyn Matthews, 50, from Wolverhampton.
Seven-month-old
Julian Pracz-Bandres and his Spanish-born mother Marina Bandres
Lopez-Belio, from Manchester, also lost their lives, the Foreign Office
said on Wednesday.
The second "black box" - that records flight data - has still not been found as a massive recovery operation continues.
The
British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) confirmed it has a
"black box" expert working with French investigators who has been there
since Wednesday.
