Pilot from downed plane had suicidal thoughts, officials say

COLOGNE, Germany, March 30 (UPI) -- The co-pilot of the Germanwings flight that crashed into a mountain in France last week had told a psychotherapist that he had suicidal thoughts, prosecutors said Monday.

Prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Monday that Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of flight 9525 which crashed in the French Alps March 24, had not left a suicide note and a motive was still uncertain, ABC News reported. Additionally, he said medical reports do not indicate mental illness.

"We have found medical documentation that showed no organic medical illness," Kumpa said.

However, the prosecutor noted, Lubitz had told a psychoanalyst he'd had suicidal thoughts prior to getting his pilot's license in 2013. Further details were not revealed.

Investigators are still trying to dig into the background of the 27-year-old Lubitz, who officials believe deliberately steered the Airbus A320 into the mountain, killing himself and 149 others -- including three American citizens.

Authorities have said they found a torn up note in his apartment dated the day of the crash that requested sick leave from Germanwings -- the regional airline owned and operated by Lufthansa. It is not yet known exactly why Lubitz contemplated sick leave or why he didn't submit the request to his employer.

Frank Woiton, a pilot for Germanwings, told a German TV station that he noticed nothing unusual about Lubitz when he flew with him a month ago.

"The impression that I got was that he was a normal guy," he said. "He had plans for the future. He wanted to fly long distance flights for Lufthansa."

In addition to a 100-person commission that is currently looking into Lubitz's background, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also questioning Lufthansa trainers in Arizona who worked with Lubitz for a time.

Sunday, Britain's Telegraph reported that Lubitz may have suffered from psychiatric challenges for several years, and that he may have had a vision problem that would have grounded him.

The New York Times cited a source close to the investigation that said Lubitz's vision problem may have been psychosomatic.

Investigators have examined the cockpit voice recorder from the flight, which helped them theorize that the crash was a deliberate act by Lubitz after the flight's primary pilot had left the cockpit for a few minutes. On the recorder, officials said, Lubitz can be heard breathing amongst the sounds of the other pilot pounding on the door and distress from the passenger cabin right up to the crash.

Authorities continue to search the crash site and forensic scientists are attempting to identify passenger remains. They are also searching for the aircraft's second "black box" -- the flight data recorder, which documents the jet's in-flight performance and may provide further clues as to the plane's demise.

A transcript of the cockpit voice recorder documents the last hour of the flight. On the tape, the pilot is heard telling Lubitz that he did not use the restroom in Spain, the flight's origin city. More than once, Lubitz tells him he can go anytime.

Just a few minutes after the plane reached cruise altitude of 38,000 feet, the still unidentified primary pilot is heard getting up from his chair and ceding control to Lubitz before he leaves the cockpit. Just a few moments later, cockpit alarms begin to sound as the plane descends. Ultimately, the pilot can be heard banging on the door and pleading for Lubitz to open the door. The voice recorder suggests the pilot also attempted to break the door down with an axe.

Investigators said the plane crashed from 38,000 feet in about eight minutes after Lubitz reprogrammed the autopilot to fly at an altitude of just 96 feet -- the program's lowest possible setting.

Euro News reported Monday that officials fear they may never find the flight data recorder because of the extreme damage done to the aircraft. The cockpit voice recorder was heavily damaged, but investigators were still able to retrieve contents of the tape.