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Prosecutors: Germanwings co-pilot hid illness from airline

By Amy R. Connolly
Photograph released by the French Interior Ministry showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande speaking to the rescue teams at La Seyne Les Alpes, on March 25, 2015, the day after the crash of a A320 Lufthansa passenger aircraft. The plane heading to Dusseldorf from Barcelona with 150 people onboard was allegedly taken down by its co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. There were no survivors. Photo by Pierre Chabaud/Interior Ministry /UPI.
Photograph released by the French Interior Ministry showing German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande speaking to the rescue teams at La Seyne Les Alpes, on March 25, 2015, the day after the crash of a A320 Lufthansa passenger aircraft. The plane heading to Dusseldorf from Barcelona with 150 people onboard was allegedly taken down by its co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. There were no survivors. Photo by Pierre Chabaud/Interior Ministry /UPI. | License Photo

MARSEILLE, France, March 27 (UPI) -- Documents found in the home of Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz indicated he had a medical condition allowing him to take time off work, further deepening the mystery surrounding the man accused of crashing Flight 9525 into a French mountainside Tuesday killing all 150 aboard.

Prosecutors said they found a torn doctor's note in the 27-year-old's Duesseldorf, Germany home indicating he had an illness that required a medical leave from work. Investigators said he didn't disclose the illness to Germanwings, its parent company Lufthansa or his colleagues. Investigators did not reveal the nature of the illness.

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Lufthansa officials said Lubitz was fit to fly and did not suffer any known psychological issues, but several French media outlets are reporting Lubitz was suffering from depression.

Investigators are continuing their search for clues about Lubitz's life, who allegedly locked the pilot out of the cockpit and crashed the Airbus A320. At the same time, the company said it will begin to hold briefings on Saturday to provide "psychological assistance" to the families and friends of crash victims.

Our focus in these darkest hours is to provide psychological assistance to the families and friends of the victims of flight 4U9525," said Thomas Winkelmann, spokesman for the Germanwings Executive Board. "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."

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Vereinigung Cockpit, the German Airline Pilots Association, criticized the investigation, saying there was not enough information yet to draw such a quick conclusion about Lubitz.

Association President Ilja Schulz told The Independent, "we should not rush to conclusions based upon limited data.

"The reasons that led to this tragic accident will only be determined after all data sources have been thoroughly examined," he said.

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