Germanwings crash co-pilot Lubitz researched suicide methods

In a statement issued in Dusseldorf, prosecutors said Lubitz had “looked for information on ways to commit suicide” in computer searches between 16 March and 23 March – one day before the crash.

The computer found at his home also showed searches on cockpit doors and the safety precautions related to them, said the statement.

Black box found

French authorities confirmed on Thursday that the second black box from the Germanwings plane had been discovered at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes. This is the flight data recorder, which will allow experts to check how the plane’s flight systems were working in the moments before the crash. Marseille proescutor Brice Robin said there was “a reasonable hope” it would provide useful evidence, despite suffering some damage.

It was the earlier discovery of the black box cockpit voice recorder that allowed Mr Robin to come to the shocking conclusion that Lubitz had “wanted to destroy the plane”, as it revealed the desperate pleas of the plane’s captain Patrick Sondenheimer as he tried to regain entry to the cockpit after Lubitz had locked the doors and put the plane on a collision course into the mountains.

“It was while he was alone that the co-pilot manipulated the flight monitoring system to action the descent of the plane” Mr Robin announced on 26 March.

Safety review

Germanwings’ parent company Lufthansa has already said that it knew six years ago that Lubitz had suffered from a “serious depressive episode”. Following the crash, investigators found torn-up sick notes in his home showing that he was suffering from an illness that should have prevented him flying a plane.

Read more - Andreas Lubitz: what did Lufthansa know about his state?

On Thursday Germany’s Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that a special task force would now consider whether extra checks on pilots’ mental health should be introduced.

The review would also study cockpit door opening procedures.

In the Germanwings crash, the door mechanism allowed Lubitz to keep the door locked despite an emergency code being entered from the outside.

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What do we know about pilot Andreas Lubitz?Jonathan Miller has been looking at the background of the man who brought down the Germanwings plane.

Posted by Channel 4 News on Thursday, March 26, 2015