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Woman and her family reportedly have no immediate plans to return to the town where the pair grew up
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The girlfriend of the Germanwings co-pilot suspected of downing a plane is reportedly too scared to return to her German home town for fear of an angry backlash from residents
The source was quoted by the newspaper as saying the family has no immediate plans to return to the town
“The girlfriend of the co-pilot has nothing to do with what happened," they said
“But the hatred of the world is coming down upon her
it is very hard for them to come back here
“They would have to look to find somewhere to stay around here if they wanted to get away
It is just not possible for them to keep a low profile so they are not coming back.”
who lived with Lubitz in an apartment in Dusseldorf
had quit her teaching job in the town after he became a pilot with Germanwings in 2013
Lubitz had reportedly purchased matching luxury Audi’s for both of them and took her away on holiday shortly before the crash
The pair are believed to have met when they were both working for a fast-food restaurant as teenagers.
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Residents and pilots’ organisations say French investigators have rushed to blame Lubitz for crash in which 150 people died before full facts are known
Five days after the Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz seemingly crashed his plane into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board, there was a growing backlash in Germany on Saturday against what many in his hometown feel is a tasteless rush to judgment
Residents say French investigators have been too hasty in blaming Lubitz for the crash
and that the full facts about his medical condition and apparent long history of depression are not yet known
Pilots’ organisations have also said that the conclusion of French air accident experts that Lubitz deliberately locked the captain out of the cabin
then calmly steered flight 4U9525 into a mountain
The case against Lubitz rests on an examination of the cockpit voice recorder, retrieved from the crash site near the French village of Le Vernet
It shows him breathing normally as the captain
frantically tries to break down the cockpit door
In 2009 Lubitz halted his pilot training with Lufthansa
telling friends he was suffering from stress
State prosecutors who searched Lubitz’s homes – a flat in Düsseldorf and his family home in the small town of Montabaur – discovered a torn-up sicknote dated to the day of the disaster
pointed out that the plane’s flight data recorder hasn’t been recovered
“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,” Ilja Schulz
The European Cockpit Association said many questions remain unanswered
and that the leaking of cockpit data in France was a “serious breach” of globally accepted rules
It called for an unbiased and independent investigation
which would be “complex and time consuming”
a group of students laid flowers and lit candles in the main square
They said they wanted to commemorate the victims of flight 4U9525
three of whom came from the same west German region
including one from the nearby town of Westerburg
They also said they wanted to show solidarity with Lubitz
whom they felt had been unfairly judged and found guilty of suicidal mass murder
and to express support for his grieving family
“There’s been this enormous rush to blame him,” Martin Böttcher
who was in the year below Lubitz at the Mons-Tabor-Gymnasium school
“I don’t think we should pre-judge the situation
Nobody has the right to decide about the lives of others
but the coverage of this tragedy has been dreadful
It doesn’t help people who may be depressed
No parent will believe that their son could do such a thing,” he said
and said that he had deepest sympathy for Lubitz’s family
and his mother Ursula plays the organ in the evangelical church
They have not been seen since the disaster
On Saturday their neighbour Johannes Rossbach
who used to greet Lubitz while he was out jogging
said the family must be going through unbearable torment
It’s hard to imagine anything worse,” he said
The information released by police and German prosecutors does suggest Lubitz had been receiving long-standing medical treatment
investigators have not confirmed the treatment was for mental health problems
the German tabloid Bild published an interview with a former girlfriend
She claimed that he could be “sweet” but said that he complained about work pressure and “too little money”
He acknowledged he was receiving psychiatric treatment
On one occasion he locked her in a bathroom
He allegedly told her: “One day I’ll do something which will change the whole system and everyone will know and remember my name.”
Others have suggested that Lubitz’s behaviour seemed normal in the months before the crash
said he had flown with Lubitz three weeks ago and had left him in sole charge of the controls
“He talked about his training and how happy he was
He said that he wanted to fly long-haul and become a captain
That’s why I also left him alone in the cockpit to go to the toilet.”
Woiton has become a hero in Germany after volunteering to fly the same Barcelona to Düsseldorf route as the crashed Airbus A320 on Thursday. A passenger, Britta Englisch, took another flight piloted by him between Hamburg and Cologne.
She wrote on Facebook that Woiton had personally addressed the passengers from the front of the plane and told them that he and the crew were there by choice, that they had families of their own, and would do everything in their power to be with them again that evening. The passengers applauded wildly.
Englisch’s post went viral, garnering over 300,000 likes. It prompted a series of heartfelt exchanges between Germanwings crew and customers, some of whom have changed their profile pictures to a black mourning ribbon.
One crew member, Adriana Gaik, said that like all air crew “at the end of the day I want to have both my legs back on firm ground”. She expressed thanks to the beleaguered airline’s guests who trusted and valued the crew “in such difficult days”.
Back in Montabaur, Böttcher said that the town best known for being the home of the internet concern 1&1 would never be the same again. Before the crash, he said, the greatest source of conflict was between the young people who had nowhere to go and the pensioners who liked to go to bed early. “The disco went bust. We have just two pubs. These shut at midnight,” he said.
“Montabaur has never come across something like this before. It’s a small idyllic place. Nobody is protecting Andreas and it’s sad to see.”
This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025. The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media.
MONTABAUR, Germany - Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work the day he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said Friday.
The evidence came from the search of Lubitz's homes in two German cities for an explanation of why he crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
Prosecutors didn't say what type of illness - mental or physical - Lubitz may have been suffering from. German media reported Friday that the 27-year-old had received treatment for depression.
Duesseldorf prosecutors' office spokesman Ralf Herrenbrueck said in a written statement that torn-up sick notes for the day of the crash "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues."
Such sick notes from doctors excusing employees from work are common in Germany and issued even for minor illnesses.
Herrenbrueck said other medical documents found indicated "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment," but that no suicide note was found. He added there was no indication of any political or religious motivation for Lubitz's actions.
Germanwings and its parent company, Lufthansa, declined immediately to comment on the new information.
Investigators had removed multiple boxes of items from Lubitz's apartment in Duesseldorf and his parents' house in Montabaur, near Frankfurt.
A German aviation official told The Associated Press that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained an "SIC" note, meaning that he needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a note could refer to either a physical or mental condition, but the official - who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information - said the note does not specify which.
However, neighbors described a man whose physical health was superb.
"He definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went jogging. I am not sure whether he did marathons, but he was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lived a few doors down from Lubitz's home in Montabaur.
German news media painted a picture of a man with a history of depression who had received psychological treatment, and who may have been set off by a falling out with his girlfriend. Duesseldorf prosecutors, who are leading the German side of the probe, refused to comment on the anonymously sourced reports, citing the ongoing investigation.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said there was a "several-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago but would not elaborate. Following the disruption, he said, Lubitz "not only passed all medical tests but also his flight training, all flying tests and checks."
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medical certificate. In order to obtain such a certificate, a pilot must be cleared of psychological problems including psychosis, bipolar disorder and personality disorder "that is severe enough to have repeatedly manifested itself by overt acts."
The certificate also means that he wasn't found to be suffering from another mental health condition that "makes the person unable to safely perform the duties or exercise the privileges" of a pilot's license.
Experts say it's possible that someone with mental health problems could have hidden them from employers or a doctor without specialist training.
"It's a high-stakes situation for pilots because they know if they give the wrong answer, they could lose their license," said Dr. Raj Persaud, fellow of Britain's Royal College of Psychiatrists. "A very good psychologist or psychiatrist who spends in-depth time with him would be able to pick up (a problem), but you have to throw an awful lot of resources at it to do that, and often, I don't think (pilots) are getting in-depth assessments," Persaud said.
The president of the German pilots union Cockpit said medical checkups are done by certified doctors and take place once a year.
"At the moment all the evidence points clearly in one direction, and it's the most likely scenario, there's no doubt about that," Ilja Schulz told The Associated Press. "But all the pieces must be put together to see whether there were any other factors that played a role, or not. Only then can you draw lessons that will improve security in future."
French investigators, who are in charge of the probe into the plane crash, believe the 27-year-old locked himself inside the cockpit and then intentionally smashed the Germanwings plane into a mountainside Tuesday during a flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told AP they were shocked at the allegations that he could have intentionally crashed the plane, saying he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed to be "very happy."
Germanwings, a low-cost carrier in the Lufthansa Group, said it was setting up a family assistance center in Marseille for relatives of those killed in the crash.
"In these dark hours, our full attention belongs to the emotional support of the relatives and friends of the victims of Flight 9525," Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said in a statement.
MONTABAUR, Germany - The pastor of the Lutheran church in Andreas Lubitz's hometown said Sunday that the community stands by him and his family, despite the fact that prosecutors blame the 27-year-old co-pilot for causing the plane crash that killed 150 people in southern France.
The town of Montabaur has been rattled by the revelation that Lubitz, who first learned to fly at a nearby glider club, may have intentionally caused Tuesday's crash of Germanwings Flight 9525.
"For us, it makes it particularly difficult that the only victim from Montabaur is suspected to have caused this tragedy, this crash - although this has not been finally confirmed, but a lot is indicating that - and we have to face this," pastor Michael Dietrich said.
He spoke to The Associated Press after holding a church service Sunday to commemorate the crash victims and support their families.
"The co-pilot, the family belong to our community, and we stand by this, and we embrace them and will not hide this, and want to support the family in particular," Dietrich said.
He added that there is no direct contact with the family at the moment, but that he believes they are receiving good assistance.
French prosecutors haven't questioned the family yet "out of decency and respect for their pain," Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said.
Authorities are trying to understand what made Lubitz lock his fellow pilot out of the cockpit and ignore his pleas to open the door before slamming the plane into a mountain on what should have been a routine flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
French officials refused to confirm or deny a partial transcript that German newspaper Bild am Sontag said it had obtained of the cockpit recording. The paper reported Sunday that the pilot left for the toilet shortly before 10:30 a.m. and was heard trying unsuccessfully to get into the cockpit again a few minutes later, then shouting "for God's sake open the door."
After several more minutes in which the pilot could be heard trying to break open the door, the plane crashed into the mountainside, according to Bild am Sonntag, which didn't say how it obtained the report.
Brice, the Marseille prosecutor said that none of the bodies recovered so far have been identified, denying German media reports that Lubitz's body had been found.
Tests on the body of the co-pilot may provide clues on any medical treatment he was receiving. Germany prosecutors said Friday that Lubitz was hiding an illness and sick notes for the day of the crash from his employer.
Dietrich, the pastor, said he knew Lubitz as a teenager, when he attended religious education 13 years ago, and his mother, who worked as a part-time organist in the community.
"When I worked with her or talked to her, it was very good and very harmonious. We had good conversations," Dietrich said. "I know her and her family. This does not make sense. It is incomprehensible for me, for us, for everyone who knew her and the family."
"From what I've heard, there were no obvious signs that there is anything in the background that could lead to this," he added.
In Rome, Pope Francis on Sunday prayed for the victims of the plane crash, citing in particular the 16 German students returning from an exchange trip to Spain.
Francis offered the prayer after Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the start of Holy Week.
In Le Vernet, a town near the crash site, families and friends of those killed were still coming to terms with what had happened.
"Members of the family shed tears as they went to see the site," said Ippei Yamanaka, co-worker of Japanese passenger Junichi Sato who died in the crash. "It was particularly moving to see Mr. Sato's father asking the leader of the Kempeitai (a Japanese military rescue team), with many tears in his eyes, for them to continue the search operation and for it to finish earlier even by just one day."
"His wife says she still she cannot believe what has happened, saying that it almost feels like her husband is away on his business trip and that it still feels like he is going to return soon," Yamanaka said.
Co-pilot who crashed plane seemed 'very happy' with jobThe Associated PressMONTABAUR, Germany — Andreas Lubitz never showed any sign he was anything but thrilled to have landed a job with Germanwings, according to those who taught him the trade as a teenager in this town in the woody hills of Western Germany.
On Thursday, French prosecutors said Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, "intentionally" crashed the jet into the side of a mountain.
Members of the hometown flight club in Montabaur, where he renewed his glider license only last fall, told The Associated Press the 28-year-old appeared to be happy with the job he had at the airline, a low-cost carrier in the Lufthansa Group.
After starting his job with Germanwings in September 2013, Lubitz was upbeat when he returned to the LSC Westerwald e.V glider club in the fall to renew his glider pilots' license with 20 or so takeoffs.
"He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well," said longtime club member Peter Ruecker, who watched him learn to fly. "He was very happy. He gave off a good feeling."
Club chairman Klaus Radke said he rejected Marseille prosecutors' conclusion that Lubitz put the Germanwings flight intentionally into a descent and dove it into the French Alps when the pilot had left the cockpit.
"I don't see how anyone can draw such conclusions before the investigation is completed," he told the AP.
At the house believed to be his parents', the curtains were drawn and four police cars were parked outside.
Police kept the media away from the door of the single-family two-story home in a prosperous new subdivision on the edge of Montabaur, a town about 60 kilometers (nearly 40 miles) northwest of Frankfurt surrounded by wooded hills.
Neighbors refused to comment, and police told journalists to stay away.
Lubitz learned to fly at the glider club in a sleek white ASK-21 two-seat glider, which sits in a small hangar today on the side of the facility's grass runway.
Ruecker said that he remembers Lubitz as "rather quiet but friendly" when he first showed up at the club as a 14- or 15-year-old saying he wanted to learn to fly.
On Thursday, a large hawk circled lazily over the runway using the same gentle updrafts that glider pilots use.
After obtaining his glider pilot's license as a teenager, he was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee after finishing the tough German abitur college preparatory school, at the town's Mons-Tabor High School.
According to the airline, he trained in Bremen before starting to fly for Germanwings in September 2013. Ruecker said Lubitz also trained in Phoenix, Arizona. He had logged 630 hours' flight time by the time of the crash, the airline said.
Ruecker said Lubitz gave no indication during his fall visit to the club that anything was wrong. "He seemed very enthusiastic" about his career. "I can't remember anything where something wasn't right."
Ruecker said Lubitz had a girlfriend but did not have many more details about his life.
Lubitz's family could not immediately be reached, but a recently deleted Facebook page bearing Lubitz's name showed him as a smiling man in a dark brown jacket posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in California.
Ruecker confirmed the photo was that of Lubitz.
The page, which was wiped from Facebook sometime in the past two days, said Lubitz was from Montabaur. It also lists him as having several aviation-themed interests, including the A320 — the model of plane that crashed Tuesday, Lufthansa, the German aviation company, and Phoenix Goodyear Airport, in Arizona.
The defunct Facebook page also included a link to a result in the 2011 Lufthansa half marathon in Frankfurt, where a runner with the nickname "flying_andy" ran a 1 hour, 48 minutes, 51 seconds.
MONTABAUR, Germany — Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work the day he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said Friday.
Prosecutor's spokesman Ralf Herrenbrueck said in a written statement that torn-up sick notes for the day of the crash "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues."
Such sick notes from doctors excusing employees from work are common in Germany and issued even for minor illnesses. Herrenbrueck didn't reveal details of what illness Lubitz was suffering from.
Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, refused to comment on the new information.
A German aviation official told The Associated Press that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained a "SIC" note, meaning that he needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a note could refer to either a physical or mental condition, but the official — who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said the note does not specify which.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said there was a "several-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago, but would not elaborate. Following the disruption, he said, Lubitz "not only passed all medical tests but also his flight training, all flying tests and checks."
French investigators, who are in charge of the probe into the plane crash, believe the 27-year-old locked himself inside the cockpit and then intentionally smashed the Germanwings plane into a mountainside on Tuesday during a flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told AP they were shocked at the allegations that he could have intentionally crashed the plane, saying he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed to be "very happy."
"In these dark hours our full attention belongs to the emotional support of the relatives and friends of the victims of Flight 9525," Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said in a statement.
Frank Jordans reported from Berlin. Associated Press Writers Joan Lowy in Washington, and David Rising and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
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“We will never forget you, Andreas,” members of his flight club wrote on their website.
Cockpit voice recordings suggest Lubitz deliberately flew the Germanwings Airbus A320 into an Alpine mountain in southern France on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board.
In the day since the revelation, despair has turned to disbelief and anger, and above all, suspicion.
On the cobbled main streets lined with centuries-old, timber-framed buildings, in the half-dozen bakeries and two bars, there was a common refrain: “I don’t believe it.”
“I don’t know; that’s the point. It’s too soon,” said Martin Boettcher, 27, who manages the local cellphone store and lost a former classmate in the crash. “If it is really true that he did this, then he is not human. But it just can’t be.”
As details about Lubitz’s personal life hit the headlines, including reports that he had struggled with depression, residents railed at what they described as media lies.
On Friday evening, dozens of people from this town of about 12,500 gathered in a historic square, lit candles, laid flowers and denounced what they described as the witch hunt that has sullied their native son’s name.
Participants said they just want to honor his memory, and not judge him until more is known.
Meanwhile, conspiracy theories are spreading. There are accusations that government and airline officials are scapegoating Lubitz.
“I don’t believe what they’re saying,” said Oliver, a man in his 20s who like most in the town was reluctant to speak to journalists and refused to give his last name.
“It’s as if Lufthansa [Germanwings’ parent company] was almost happy that they found a black sheep to pin it all on.”
Others said it was a terrible blow to this picturesque community, which draws tourists for its historic landscape unblemished by bombings during World War II.
“It’s a tragedy for the whole town,” said Marie, who manages a family-owned bakery in the town’s center. “How are we supposed to live after this is over? Everybody is now going to associate us with this suicide pilot, if he really did it.”
She expressed sympathy for his parents, whose home was initially surrounded by journalists and now by law enforcement officials.
“My husband’s friend, who lives a few doors down from the parents, said they have barricaded themselves inside their home over the last 24 hours because of the reporters,” Marie said. “I feel so sorry for the parents.”
Some worried that the tragedy could tear apart this small community, with relatives of the victims taking out their anger on Lubitz’s family.
Still, teenager Claudia Muharemovic used her allowance money to buy flowers for the makeshift memorial in the square.
“I think it helps if we stay together as a community,” she said.
Others struggled to make sense of the tragedy.
“I wish I had known him, so I could understand him,” said Christian, a university student. “Still, it’s not yet been proven, everything that is being written in the papers.”
And when just for a second, some allow themselves to believe such a thing could happen, they shake their heads at the bitter irony that someone who had made something of his life could still come to such an end.
“Everybody says the same thing: The only thing you can do in Westerwald is grow up here and retire here,” said Boettcher, the cellphone store manager. “There is nothing to do here.”
“This guy found something to do with himself at the aviation club,” he continued. “He was a success story. And it still brought him down.”
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MONTABAUR, Germany | Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared happy and healthy to acquaintances, but a picture emerged Friday of a man who hid evidence of an illness from his employers - including a torn-up doctor's note that would have kept him off work the day authorities say he crashed Flight 9525 into an Alpine mountainside.
As German prosecutors sought to piece together the puzzle of why Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit and crashed the Airbus A320, police in the French Alps toiled to retrieve the shattered remains of the 150 people killed in Tuesday's crash.
Searches conducted at Lubitz's homes in Duesseldorf and in the town of Montabaur turned up documents pointing to "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment," but no suicide note was found, said Ralf Herrenbrueck, a spokesman for the Duesseldorf prosecutors' office.
They included ripped-up sick notes covering the day of the crash, which "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues," Herrenbrueck said in a statement.
Doctors commonly issue employees in Germany with such notes excusing them from work, even for minor illnesses, and workers hand them to their employers. Doctors are obliged to abide by medical secrecy unless their patient explicitly tells them he or she plans to commit an act of violence.
Prosecutors didn't specify what illness Lubitz may have been suffering from, or say whether it was mental or physical. German media reported Friday that the 27-year-old had suffered from depression.
The Duesseldorf University Hospital said Friday that Lubitz had been a patient there over the past two months and last went in for a "diagnostic evaluation" on March 10. It declined to provide details, citing medical confidentiality, but denied reports it had treated Lubitz for depression.
Neighbors described a man whose physical health was superb and road race records show Lubitz took part in several long-distance runs.
"He definitely did not smoke. He really took care of himself. He always went jogging. ... He was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann, who lives a few doors from Lubitz's home in Montabaur.
People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told The Associated Press that he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed very happy.
On Friday, no one was seen coming or going from his family's large slate-roofed two-story house in Montabaur as more than 100 journalists remained outside. Mayor Edmund Schaaf appealed to the media to show "consideration."
"Independent of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true or not, we have sympathy for his family," he said.
Germanwings said that both pilots on the plane had medical clearance, and it had received no sick note for the day of the crash. Medical checkups are done by certified doctors and take place once a year.
A German aviation official told the AP that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained a notation that meant he needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a notation could refer to either a physical or mental condition but the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said Lubitz's file did not specify which.
new video loaded: Associates Offer Details About Co-Pilot
transcriptBackbars0:00/1:31-1:31transcript
Pastor says they 'belong to our community and we embrace them'
Pastor Michael Dietrich claims he knew the 27-year-old since he was a teenager, when he attended religious education.
Prosecutors believe Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit and intentionally descended the Airbus A320, killing himself and the 149 passengers and crew on board.
"I know her and her family,” he told the Associated Press. “This does not make sense. It is incomprehensible for me, for us, for everyone who knew her and the family.
“For us, it makes it particularly difficult that the only victim from Montabaur is suspected to have caused this tragedy, this crash - although this has not been finally confirmed, but a lot is indicating that - and we have to face this.”
He said there has been no direct contact with Lubitz’s family up until now, but he believes they are being supported.
"The co-pilot, the family belong to our community, and we stand by this, and we embrace them and will not hide this, and want to support the family in particular," he said.
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said Lubitz’s family has not yet been questioned by investigators "out of decency and respect for their pain”.
A 41-year-old trader of luxury cars living in Montabaur was shot dead on Wednesday night around 18:45 local time in his office in the residential area of Himmelfeld in Montabaur
The German police from Koblenz could not report on the exact cause of the liquidation
An eyewitness reported that the local police and rescue personnel blocked the area around the place where the investigation started
The girlfriend of the man missed her boyfriend, who was the owner of Soho Automobile
They found him shot in his office in the luxury villa
From this place Dirk Dahmen ran his trade in luxury cars from brands like Aston Martin
The villa of the trader has an underground parking filled with vehicles worth several million euros
he also had a helicopter landing pad in the backyard and his estate was illuminated in different colors at night
[Via Rhein-Zeitung.de]
It is unknown if something was stolen at this stage
and website in this browser for the next time I comment
Germany (AP) "” Andreas Lubitz never appeared anything but thrilled to have landed a pilot's job with Germanwings
according to those who helped him learn to fly as a teenager in this town in the forested hills of western Germany
"intentionally" crashed the jet into the side of a mountain Tuesday in the French Alps
Members of his hometown flight club in Montabaur
where he renewed his glider license last fall
told The Associated Press that the 27-year-old Lubitz appeared to be happy with the job he had at the airline
After starting as a co-pilot with Germanwings in September 2013
Lubitz was upbeat when he returned to the LSC Westerwald e.V glider club to update his glider pilots' license with about 20 takeoffs
"He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well," said longtime club member Peter Ruecker
Club chairman Klaus Radke said he rejects the Marseille prosecutors' conclusion that Lubitz deliberately put the Germanwings flight into a descent and dove it straight into the French Alps after the pilot had briefly left the cockpit
"I don't see how anyone can draw such conclusions before the investigation is completed," he told the AP
the curtains were drawn and four police cars were parked outside
Police blocked the media from the single-family
two-story home in a prosperous new subdivision on the edge of Montabaur
a town 60 kilometers (nearly 40 miles) northwest of Frankfurt
A team of investigators entered the home and
people could be seen emerging with blue bags
a big cardboard box and what looked like a large computer
Another person who came out was shielded from reporters with a coat by police
Investigators also searched the apartment that Lubitz kept in Duesseldorf in an upscale three-story building in an affluent neighborhood
neighbor Johannes Rossmann said Lubitz appeared to be in good health and was a regular jogger
He described the pilot as calm and low-key
"I do not believe he killed himself and claimed other people's lives," the 22-year-old Rossmann said
"I can't believe it until it is 100 percent confirmed."
Lubitz learned to fly at the glider club in a sleek white ASK-21 two-seat glider
which sits in a small hangar today on the side of the facility's grass runway
Ruecker said he remembers Lubitz as "rather quiet but friendly" when he first showed up at the club as a 14- or 15-year-old saying he wanted to learn to fly
a large hawk circled lazily over the runway
capturing the same gentle updrafts that glider pilots use
After obtaining his glider pilot's license as a teenager
he was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee after finishing the tough German preparatory school at the town's Mons-Tabor High School
According to Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr
He said there was a "several-month" gap in his training six years ago but he couldn't say what the reason was for that
Lubitz "not only passed all medical tests but also his flight training
all flying tests and checks," Spohr told reporters
saying the co-pilot was "100 percent fit to fly
Lubitz spent an 11-month waiting period working as a flight attendant before becoming a co-pilot on the Germanwings A320 fleet
Spohr said such a waiting period is not unusual at Lufthansa
Lubitz had logged 630 hours' flight time by the day of the crash
Ruecker said Lubitz had a girlfriend and gave no indication during his fall visit that anything was wrong
"He seemed very enthusiastic" about his career
"I can't remember anything where something wasn't right."
Lubitz's family could not immediately be reached
but a Facebook page bearing Lubitz's name showed him as a smiling in a dark brown jacket posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
Ruecker confirmed that the photo was of Lubitz
which was wiped from Facebook sometime in the past two days and restored Thursday as an "In Memory" site
It also lists him as having several aviation-themed interests
the model of plane that crashed Tuesday; Lufthansa
the German aviation company; and Phoenix Goodyear Airport
The Facebook page also included a link to a result in the 2011 Lufthansa half-marathon in Frankfurt
where a runner with the nickname "flying_andy" ran the course in a 1 hour
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said German authorities had checked intelligence and police databases on the day of the crash and Lufthansa told them that regular security checks also turned up nothing untoward about the co-pilot
and after comparing the information we have
there is no terrorist background for him as a person," de Maiziere said
and Raphael Satter in London contributed to this story
Germany (AP) "” Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared happy and healthy to acquaintances
but a picture emerged Friday of a man who hid evidence of an illness from his employers "” including a torn-up doctor's note that would have kept him off work the day authorities say he crashed Flight 9525 into an Alpine mountainside
As German prosecutors sought to piece together the puzzle of why Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit and crashed the Airbus A320
police in the French Alps toiled to retrieve the shattered remains of the 150 people killed in Tuesday's crash
Searches conducted at Lubitz's homes in Duesseldorf and in the town of Montabaur turned up documents pointing to "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment," but no suicide note was found
a spokesman for the Duesseldorf prosecutors' office
They included ripped-up sick notes covering the day of the crash
which "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues," Herrenbrueck said in a statement
Doctors commonly issue employees in Germany with such notes excusing them from work
Doctors are obliged to abide by medical secrecy unless their patient explicitly tells them he or she plans to commit an act of violence
Prosecutors didn't specify what illness Lubitz may have been suffering from
German media reported Friday that the 27-year-old had suffered from depression
The Duesseldorf University Hospital said Friday that Lubitz had been a patient there over the past two months and last went in for a "diagnostic evaluation" on March 10
but denied reports it had treated Lubitz for depression
Neighbors described a man whose physical health was superb and road race records show Lubitz took part in several long-distance runs
He was very healthy," said Johannes Rossmann
who lives a few doors from Lubitz's home in Montabaur
People in Montabaur who knew Lubitz told The Associated Press that he had been thrilled with his job at Germanwings and seemed very happy
no one was seen coming or going from his family's large slate-roofed two-story house in Montabaur as more than 100 journalists remained outside
Mayor Edmund Schaaf appealed to the media to show "consideration."
"Independent of whether the accusations against the co-pilot are true or not
Germanwings said that both pilots on the plane had medical clearance
and it had received no sick note for the day of the crash
Medical checkups are done by certified doctors and take place once a year
A German aviation official told the AP that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained a notation that meant he needed "specific regular medical examination." Such a notation could refer to either a physical or mental condition but the official
who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information
German media have painted a picture of a man with a history of depression who had received psychological treatment
and who may have been set off by a falling-out with his girlfriend
who are leading the German side of the probe
refused to comment on the anonymously sourced reports
Federal Aviation Administration had issued Lubitz a third-class medical certificate
a pilot must be cleared of psychological problems including psychosis
bipolar disorder and personality disorders
The certificate also means that he wasn't found to be suffering from another mental health condition that "makes the person unable to safely perform the duties or exercise the privileges" of a pilot's license
has said there was a "several-month" gap in Lubitz's training six years ago
Prosecutors said there was no indication of any political or religious motivation for Lubitz's actions on the Barcelona-Duesseldorf flight
police working to recover remains from the crash site said they so far have recovered between 400 and 600 pieces of remains from the victims
Patrick Touron of the gendarme service said DNA samples have been taken from objects provided by victims' families
Jewelry and other objects could also help in the identification process
"We haven't found a single body intact," he said
The rough terrain means that recovery workers have to be backed up by mountain rescuers
"We have particularly difficult conditions
and each person needs to be roped up," Touron said
the European Aviation Safety Agency recommended that airlines in the future always have two people in the cockpit
Associated Press writers Frank Jordans and David Rising in Berlin
Joan Lowy in Washington and Thomas Adamson in Paris contributed to this report
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have left the small German town of Montabaur and do not have plans to return
"The hatred of the world is coming down upon her
it is very hard for them to come back here," a family friend told the Mail
locked the Germanwings captain out of the cockpit and then deliberately steered the plane into the mountains
Lubitz's mental health has also been at the center of an investigation into the crash
investigators found a torn up medical note at Lubitz's home declaring him unfit for work
Lubitz allegedly lied to doctors when seeking medical attention for vision problems
telling them he was on sick leave even though he was still flying commercial planes, German paper Bild first reported.
revealed earlier this week that Lubitz notified officials that he suffered from severe depression during flight training school in 2009.
German prosecutors said Monday that the copilot was treated for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot's license.
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A 29-year-old man was admitted due to focal aware epileptic seizures with transient facial paresis and aphasia
He reported a 1-year history of fatigue symptoms with lack of appetite and weight loss
Neurological examination showed no focal deficit and slight generalized EEG slowing
Cranial MRI revealed multiple contrast-enhancing small nodular structures along the leptomeninges of the cortical sulci and the choroid plexus of the lateral ventricles
The CSF cell count was normal but the blood�brain barrier function was severely impaired (total protein 2485 mg/l
normal range 200�450) with elevated CSF lysozyme (>1500 �g/l
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that no conflict of interest exists
Translated from the original German by David Roseveare
entwickelt von L.N. Schaffrath DigitalMedien GmbH
Vodafone Deutschland has teamed up with French investor and asset manager Meridiam to provide FTTH/B access for the 25 municipalities of the community of Montabaur – and their 42,000 inhabitants – located 100km northwest of Frankfurt.
Meridiam will work with the regional authority of Montabaur – its main town features a strikingly yellow castle – to build and operate the network
The newly-created NetCo “Glasfaser Montabaur GmbH & Co” will connect 11,200 buildings representing 17,000 households in Montabaur
Meridiam closed the financing of several FTTH networks in Germany
The long-term 30-year bond financing will enable the deployment of more than 90,000 homes passed in seven German municipalities
Meridiam announced a wholesale arrangement with Vodafone to deploy FTTH networks across different municipalities in Germany outside of Vodafone’s existing gigabit cable footprint
Meridiam has begun deploying fibre in seven underserved regions
reaching homes currently without access to gigabit connectivity
and expects to be completed by the end of 2024.
Meridiam is quick to point out that this work with Vodafone is different to more commonplace shorter-term debt being raised for such project
This project will instead be financed through a 30-year long-term bond
exclusively arranged by MEAG (subsidiary of German re-insurer Munich Re) on behalf of institutional investors
Meridiam started its fibre strategy in 2020 and
Germany has among the lowest FTTH penetration rates in Europe
with rural and semi-rural areas particularly underserved
Meridiam therefore aims to deploy FTTH networks for 500,000 homes passed in underserved areas over the next five years
and Vodafone will market gigabit broadband to these potential customers
with six clusters to be built each year between 2021 and 2023
construction and maintenance of the network
The project aims to reach 100% coverage in the target area – which Meridiam points out is a unique approach in Germany that it expects to raise attention among public authorities and market participants.
and will offer a full range of services to business and residential customers
Vodafone also provides an offer to other ISPs for marketing their respective services on the network
The contract between GFM and Vodafone has a duration of 30 years.
Competitor Deutsche Telekom only relatively recently began accelerating its efforts to lose the tag of Europe’s greatest laggard in the fibre stakes. Ironically, DT’s Austrian opco Magenta Telekom has itself partnered up with Meridiam to fibre up that country.
It takes just one minute to register for the leading daily B2B newsletter for the telecoms industry, and it's free.
Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appeared to have crashed the Germanwings flight deliberately, a French prosecutor said. (Facebook)
Link copiedShareShare articleAndreas Lubitz, the Germanwings co-pilot who prosecutors say may have deliberately crashed a plane into the Alps on Tuesday killing 150 people, was described by acquaintances in his hometown of Montabaur as a "normal guy" and "nice young man".
"He was a completely normal guy," Klaus Radke said, the head of the local flight club where Lubitz received his first flying licence years ago.
He had returned in the fall for a refresher course with Mr Radke.
"I got to know him, or I should say reacquainted with him, as a very nice, fun and polite young man," Mr Radke added.
Lubitz had no known association with terrorist groups, German interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said.
He appeared to have led an active lifestyle, running a half-marathon in a good time and showing an interest in pop music and nightclubs, according to his Facebook page, which also featured a photo of Lubitz by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
"I'm just speechless. I don't have any explanation for this. Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me," Peter Ruecker said, a long-time member of the flight club who knew Lubitz well.
"Andreas was a very nice young man who got his training here and was a member of the club," Mr Ruecker said.
"He was a lot of fun, even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet. He was just another boy like so many others here.
"He was just a normal young person, actively engaged in life and not really unusual in any way."
Lubitz lived with his parents in Montabaur while keeping a flat in Dusseldorf, a Germanwings hub and the city for which the doomed flight from Barcelona was bound, Montabaur mayor Gabriele Wieland told DPA news agency.
Neighbours in the small town of 12,500 people said Lubitz had a girlfriend and the couple liked to jog together. He also had a young brother who did not live with him.
On his quiet, neatly-swept residential street, acquaintances of Lubitz said they were stunned by the news.
"I cannot believe it and don't want to believe it. I am absolutely shocked," Johannes Rossbach, 23, said.
"I only saw him occasionally but he was always polite and friendly and was quite physically fit. He went jogging a lot," he said.
"I don't know if he was depressed or sick but I never heard anyone talking about him or his family having any particular problems."
Neighbour Hans-Juergen Krause said he was "really shocked" by the news.
Lubitz appeared to have led an active lifestyle, enjoyed travelling and pop music. (Facebook)
Germanwings has so far given only sketchy biographical details of the co-pilot, who had only 630 hours of flying time to his name, unlike the captain, who had flown for more than 6,000 hours and had worked for Lufthansa for 10 years.
Lubitz was trained at the Lufthansa pilot training academy in Bremen, which declined to talk about him.
His local flight club carried a black ribbon on its website with the flight number and the name "Andreas".
"He had a lot of friends, he wasn't a loner," Mr Ruecker said.
"He was integrated in the group. Our club is mostly made up of young people who learn how to fly gliders and then get their licence and then perhaps, like was the case with him, to make the jump into commercial aviation."
Armin Pleiss, head teacher of the Mons-Tabor-Gymnasium high school where Lubitz graduated in 2007, said: "I am just as shocked and surprised as you are."
Lubitz attended the school of 1,300 students before Mr Pleiss became the principal.
A German police officer leaves a house believed to belong to Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz in Montabar. (Reuters: Ralph Orlowski)
Lubitz had worked for Germanwings, a Lufthansa subsidiary, since September 2013, a Lufthansa spokeswoman said.
Carsten Spohr, the head of Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, told a news conference there was not "the slightest indication what might have led" to his actions.
"In our worst nightmares we could not have imagined that this kind of tragedy could happen to us here at the company," he said.
According to Mr Spohr, he began training as a pilot in 2008 in Bremen, where he was admitted after undergoing thorough psychological testing.
He took a break from his training "for a few months" before graduating in 2012 and working for Lufthansa as a flight attendant as part of his preparation, the Lufthansa boss added.
Cockpit employees are selected "very, very carefully" with much attention paid to their "psychological suitability", Mr Spohr, himself a former pilot, assured.
"He was 100 per cent airworthy, without reservation."
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Montabaur: In Andreas Lubitz's home town in western Germany
Everyone who had encountered the 27-year-old
in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as a "new
simply incomprehensible" dimension to the Germanwings air disaster
it appeared that Lubitz was responsible for the deaths of 149 people
The only clue as to what may have caused him to fly the Airbus A320 into an Alpine mountainside was an apparent breakdown he suffered six years ago
he had fully overcome the depressive episode and was judged "100 per cent" fit to fly
A photo taken from Facebook shows Andreas Lubitz
co-pilot of the Germanwings Airbus A320 plane that crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday.Credit: Facebook
Lubitz enjoyed an affluent upbringing in the small town of Montabaur
20 minutes' drive from the city of Koblenz
His father was a successful business executive and his mother a piano teacher
and the family could well afford the cost of flying lessons at his local club
He first sat in the cockpit of a light aircraft at the age of 14 and
after a year of instruction under dual controls
"It was his dream to fly from an early age and it was a dream he began to fulfil here
so when he went on to gain his commercial licence and fly planes like the Airbus he was very happy and proud," said Klaus Radker
A person covered with a black blanket is led by police officers from the Lubitz family house in Montabaur on Thursday.Credit: AP
when the Germanwings pilot returned to the club to renew his light aircraft flying licence and to take part in the club's barbecue
Nobody at the club noticed anything strange in his demeanour
The LSC Westerwald flight club on Thursday
where the Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had been a member
"He seemed normal; proud of his job after so much training
He added: "I find it hard to believe that Andreas
would deliberately fly his plane into a mountain and kill all those people
German police officers carry bags of evidence out of a house in Montabaur that belongs to the parents of crashed Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz
"If that is true it also means that the results of all the psychological tests he would have had to take to be a pilot were wrong."
Lubitz may have suffered some sort of breakdown that forced him to take a break from his pilot training
Media gather in front of the house believed to belong to the parents of Andreas Lubitz on Thursday.Credit: Reuters
A mother of a schoolfriend said Lubitz had told her daughter that he was suffering from depression
"Apparently he had a burnout," the girl's mother told a German newspaper
But she added that her daughter had seen him again just before Christmas and that he had appeared normal
German police in front of the house believed to belong to the parents of Andreas Lubitz on Thursday.Credit: Reuters
said that Lubitz "took a break in his training six years ago
Then he did the tests [technical and psychological] again
And he was deemed 100 per cent fit to fly."
But he added: "I am not able to state the reasons why he took the break for several months."
German police carry boxes out of a house believed to belong to the parents of Andreas Lubitz on Thursday.Credit: Reuters
Neighbours of Lubitz's parents in a suburb on the edge of Montabaur all spoke of a polite
said he would regularly see the pilot jogging through the neighbourhood's quiet streets
Mr Rossbach added: "He would always say hello and goodbye
There certainly seemed nothing out of the ordinary about him
"I didn't realise he was a pilot until I heard it yesterday
And today's news is absolutely shocking
I can't believe someone like that would kill 149 other people
It's something that absolutely needs investigating and proving before we can believe it."
Lubitz left Montabaur at the age of 20 in 2007 to begin his commercial pilot's training in the northern German city of Bremen
He was a year into his training when he appears to have suffered the breakdown and took a break
By the time of the accident he was still relatively inexperienced
having notched up only 630 hours of flying time
who had flown for more than 6000 hours and had worked for Lufthansa for 10 years
The Lubitz family's large detached home
set on a plateau on one of the hills surrounding Montabaur
was last night being treated as a crime scene
groups of plainclothes police officers began carrying out a forensic search of the house
They were also thought to be searching a flat that Lubitz rented in Dusseldorf
"We are conducting a search of the parents' home," Ralf Herrenbruck
"All investigative measures are now under way."
which features a photograph of him by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco
he came 72nd out of 780 participants in a 10 kilometre new year run in Montabaur
racing alongside his then 54-year-old father
according to results posted by the organisers on its website
He also ran the Lufthansa Frankfurt half-marathon in 2013
finishing in times varying from just under 1 hour 49 to 1 hour 37 minutes
a long-time member of Lubitz's flying club
I don't have any explanation for this
the head teacher of the Mons-Tabor-Gymnasium high school where Lubitz graduated in 2007
said: "I am just as shocked and surprised as you are."
a neighbour whose brother was in the same year as Lubitz at the high school
But who would have guessed at something so shocking happening?"
Montabaur: In Andreas Lubitz's home town in western Germany
in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel described as a \\\"new
simply incomprehensible\\\" dimension to the Germanwings air disaster
he had fully overcome the depressive episode and was judged \\\"100 per cent\\\" fit to fly
20 minutes' drive from the city of Koblenz
\\\"It was his dream to fly from an early age and it was a dream he began to fulfil here
so when he went on to gain his commercial licence and fly planes like the Airbus he was very happy and proud,\\\" said Klaus Radker
when the Germanwings pilot returned to the club to renew his light aircraft flying licence and to take part in the club's barbecue
\\\"He seemed normal; proud of his job after so much training
He added: \\\"I find it hard to believe that Andreas
\\\"If that is true it also means that the results of all the psychological tests he would have had to take to be a pilot were wrong.\\\"
\\\"Apparently he had a burnout,\\\" the girl's mother told a German newspaper
said that Lubitz \\\"took a break in his training six years ago
And he was deemed 100 per cent fit to fly.\\\"
But he added: \\\"I am not able to state the reasons why he took the break for several months.\\\"
Neighbours of Lubitz's parents in a suburb on the edge of Montabaur all spoke of a polite
said he would regularly see the pilot jogging through the neighbourhood's quiet streets
Mr Rossbach added: \\\"He would always say hello and goodbye
\\\"I didn't realise he was a pilot until I heard it yesterday
I can't believe someone like that would kill 149 other people
It's something that absolutely needs investigating and proving before we can believe it.\\\"
Lubitz left Montabaur at the age of 20 in 2007 to begin his commercial pilot's training in the northern German city of Bremen
\\\"We are conducting a search of the parents' home,\\\" Ralf Herrenbruck
\\\"All investigative measures are now under way.\\\"
a long-time member of Lubitz's flying club
said: \\\"I am just as shocked and surprised as you are.\\\"
But who would have guessed at something so shocking happening?\\\"
Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have intentionally crashed a Germanwings plane into the French Alps
All 150 people on board the Airbus A320 were killed in Tuesday's crash
had been working for the Germanwings budget carrier
He lived with his parents at their home in the western town of Montabaur - where investigators are now working
Mr Lubitz first took to the skies as a teenager at a glider club in his home town
He learned to fly a two-seat glider when he was about 14 or 15 years old
according to the club's chairman Klaus Radke
In 2008 he was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee
after obtaining his glider pilot's license
and enrolled at the company's training school in Bremen
Six years later he joined subsidiary airline Germanwings and began working as a co-pilot
The German national had just 630 hours of flying time
compared with the 6000 hours of the flight captain
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said its air crew were picked carefully and subjected to psychological vetting
"He was 100 percent fit to fly without any restrictions or conditions," said Mr Sphor
He said Mr Lubitz's training had been interrupted for several months six years ago
but was resumed after "the suitability of the candidate was re-established"
Acquaintances in Montabaur told Reuters they were stunned
describing him as an affable young man who gave no indication he was harbouring any harmful intent
this is just inconceivable for me," said Peter Ruecker
a long-time member of the local flight club where Mr Lubitz received his flying licence years ago
even though he was perhaps sometimes a bit quiet
He was just another boy like so many others here."
He appeared to have led an active lifestyle
running a half-marathon in a good time and showing an interest in pop music and night-clubs
The recently deleted page bearing his name showed him as a smiling man in a brown jacket posing in front of the Golden Gate bridge in California
French prosecutor Brice Robin said the 28-year-old locked the doors of the cockpit after the captain went to the bathroom and sent the plane into descent
Mr Robin said there were no grounds to suspect that Mr Lubitz had carried out a terrorist attack
He refused to discuss his religious background
"Suicide" was also the wrong word to describe actions which killed so many other people
"I don't necessarily call it suicide when you have responsibility for 100 or so lives."
The co-pilot of a Germanwings flight appears to have "deliberately" crashed it into the French Alps after locking his captain out of the cockpit
A report has emerged suggesting one of the pilots on the Airbus 320 that crashed in the French Alps had been locked out of the cockpit
French investigators say usable data has been extracted from the cockpit voice recorder of Germanwings 4U 9525 but it has so far yielded no clues as to the cause of the plane's crash
Investigators hope a black box recovered from the wreckage of the airliner will help them learn why the plane descended rapidly over eight minutes