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Germanwings co-pilot researched deadly drugs

June 12, 2015

Prosecutors say the co-pilot thought to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane in March had researched poisons in the days before. All 150 people on board the jet were killed when it crashed into the French Alps.

https://p.dw.com/p/1FgWy
Flags representing some of the nationalities of the victims are seen as family members and relatives gather at the moemorial, near the crash site of a Germanwings Airbus A320
Image: Reuters/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Investigators in Düsseldorf on Friday said Andreas Lubitz had looked on the internet for ways to poison himself, just before the fatal accident on March 24. Prosecutors confirmed a report in the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung that Lubitz's Internet browsing history showed he had looked for sellers of potassium cyanide, valium and lethal combinations of medication.

They also said he had searched the term "living will," suggesting he feared a failed suicide attempt could lead to his being revived in hospital. A living will can give a patient's medical directions if they are unable to communicate with doctors, including instructions not to resuscitate. Previously investigators had only said that Lubitz had searched for "means of suicide."

The office said 28-year-old Lubitz remained the sole suspect in the German inquiry into the accident, indicating there are no plans to indict Germanwings or the more than 40 doctors he visited before the crash. Findings have shown Lubitz did not tell anyone about his plans to take his own life, making it difficult to hold anyone else responsible for the disaster. However they stressed that the investigation was still ongoing.

The day before, French prosecutors announced Lubitz had worried he was losing his eyesight, seeking multiple sets of medical advice. However, doctors could not find evidence that the condition was real, with some suggesting pyschosis for the disturbances to his sleep and eyesight. Several doctors had felt he was unfit to fly, but had not passed on their concerns to Lubitz's employer due to German medical privacy laws.

In the month prior to the accident Lubitz had seven medical appointments, including three with a psychiatrist, and had taken eight days off work. He had a sick note in his apartment valid for the day of the Germanwings crash.

The first of the 16 school students from the German town of Haltern am See killed in the crash were buried on Friday. Meanwhile French authorities said they were planning to create a common grave in the town of Le Vernet, the closest village to the crash site, to bury remains that could not be identified.

an/msh (dpa, AP)