Germanwings co-pilot hid medical condition from employer, prosecutors say

German prosecutors said they have found evidence that the co-pilot of the Germanwings plane that crashed this week in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, appeared to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers. Separately, a German newspaper reported that he had suffered from depression and anxiety.

Prosecutors in the western city of Düsseldorf said Friday they seized medical documents from the home of Andreas Lubitz that indicate "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment."

Prosecutor Ralf Herrenbrueck said in a news release 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."

He said the search of Lubitz's home revealed no suicide note nor evidence of any political or religious motivation for his actions.

The German newspaper Bild, citing internal documents forwarded by Lufthansa's Aeromedical Center to German authorities, reported Friday that Lubitz had suffered from depression and anxiety and had been judged to have suffered a "serious depressive episode" around the time of his training, which was suspended.

Düsseldorf University Hospital confirmed Friday that Lubitz had been a patient there over the past two months. The hospital said he last came to the hospital for a "diagnostic evaluation" on March 10. It declined to provide details of his condition but denied reports that it had treated Lubitz for depression.

Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr acknowledged at a news conference on Thursday that Lubitz had broken off his training in 2009 but did not explain why. He said there was nothing in the pilot's background to suggest he was a risk.

"After he was cleared again, he resumed training. He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colors. His flying abilities were flawless," Spohr said.

German news media painted a picture of a man who had a history of depression and had received psychological treatment, and who may have been set off by a falling-out with his girlfriend.

A German aviation official told The Associated Press on Friday that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained an SIC note, meaning that he needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a note could refer to either a physical or mental condition, but the official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said the note does not specify which.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medical certificate. In order to obtain such a certificate, a pilot must be cleared of psychological problems, including psychosis, bipolar disorder and personality disorder "that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts."

The certificate also means that he was not found to be suffering from another mental health condition that "makes the person unable to safely perform the duties or exercise the privileges" of a pilot's license.

The German prosecutors' findings came a day after French prosecutors said they believed Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit and steered the Airbus A320 airliner into its fatal descent.

Several airlines have already changed their cockpit rules in response to the crash, although Spohr said Thursday that he saw no need for Lufthansa to do so.

On Saturday, a member of a gliding club near the crash site, told French TV station i-Tele that Lubitz’s family and other members of the gliding club in his hometown came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.

Meanwhile, a special mass was held in the nearby town of Digne-les-Bains to honor the victims and support their families. Bishop Jean-Philippe Nault led the mass, attended by about 200 people from the surrounding region, deeply shaken by the crash. 

Lubitz was described by acquaintances in his hometown of Montabaur in western Germany as a friendly but quiet man who learned to fly gliders at a local club before advancing to commercial aviation as a co-pilot at Germanwings in 2013.

"I got to know him, or I should say reacquainted with him, as a very nice, fun and polite young man," said Klaus Radke, the head of the local flight club where Lubitz received his first flying license years ago. Radke said Lubitz had returned in the fall for a refresher course.

But a friend who met Lubitz six years ago and flew with him in gliding school said he became increasingly withdrawn over the past year.

Before Lubitz became a co-pilot in late 2013, the friend said the two went to movies and clubs together. But he noticed at two birthday parties they attended over the past year that Lubitz had retreated into a shell, speaking very little.

"Flying was his life," said the friend, who agreed to speak to Reuters about Lubitz's mental state on condition of anonymity. "He always used to be a quiet companion, but in the last year that got worse."

Police raided Lubitz's family home in Montabaur and his apartment in Düsseldorf on Thursday in a search for clues.

"We took a number of items with us, and we are evaluating them now," said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police.

Neighbors described a man whose physical health was superb.

"He definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went jogging. I am not sure whether he did marathons, but he was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lived a few doors down from the Lubitzes' home in Montabaur.

Lufthansa has offered to pay $54,000 in immediate financial assistance per passenger to relatives of the deceased, a spokeswoman told Reuters.

Wire services