Andreas
Lubitz was afraid of losing his sight, and visited more than 40 doctors in the
years leading up to the March crash, French prosecutors said Thursday. The
investigation into the accident will now be widened.
Deutsche Welle, 12 June 2015
The
investigators said several of the doctors Lubitz visited, as well as seven he
had booked appointments with in the month before the accident, felt he was
unfit to fly.
But they
did not share their concerns with the 28-year-old's employer, Lufthansa, due to
Germany's medical secrecy requirements.
In Germany
medical practitioners can be sent to prison if they disclose patient
information without evidence they intend to commit a serious crime or harm
themselves.
Lead
investigator Brice Robin said Lubitz had sought advice for potentially
career-ending vision problems, and had sent an email to one doctor just two
weeks before the accident saying he had doubled his dose of antidepressants in
an attempt to help him sleep.
Robin said
they could not confirm whether Lubitz's sight problems were real or
psychological.
Germanwings
and its parent company Lufthansa say the young pilot had passed all medical tests and was considered fit to fly. It has been confirmed that Lubitz had been
struggling with depression and suicidal tendencies when Flight 4U9525 crashed.
Investigators
met with relatives of the 150 victims of the crash to update them on the
inquiry's progress. The victims' remains are currently being returned to
families, and funerals will be held in the coming weeks. The remains of all
those on board were finally identified last month.
Stephane
Gicquel, head of a French accident victims association, welcomed the news that
the inquiry was being expanded into a criminal investigation. "We can
clearly see the prosecutor's positioning: to open an inquiry that will pose the
question of manslaughter and, very clearly, faults or negligence from Lufthansa
in detecting the state of Lubitz's health."
Investigators
believe Lubitz locked the cockpit door after the pilot left, and put the plane
into a controlled descent. During Thursday's meeting relatives were shown three
different reconstructions of what happened in the cockpit, with actual audio
from the fatal flight. "I think that the families appreciated this frank
and direct communication," Gicquel said.
Around half
of those who died in the crash were German, as well as victims from countries
including Australia, Spain, the United States, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
an/bk (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)
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