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March 28, 2015

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Airlines change cockpit rules

THE co-pilot who crashed his plane in the French Alps had received a sick note from doctors showing he suffered a health condition that would have prevented him flying the day of the crash, which he apparently hid from his employer, German prosecutors said.

French prosecutors believe Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked himself alone in the cockpit of the Germanwings Airbus A320 on Tuesday and deliberately steered it into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board.

“Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point toward an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors,” said the prosecutors’ office in Duesseldorf, where the co-pilot lived and where the doomed flight from Barcelona was heading.

“The fact there are sick notes saying he was unable to work, among other things, that were found torn up, which were recent and even from the day of the crime, support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues,” the German prosecutors said.

The documents were found in searches of Lubitz’s homes in Duesseldorf and in the town of Montabaur in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Reports in German media suggested that Lubitz had suffered from depression in the past, and that his employer would have been aware of his history.

Germany’s Bild newspaper reported yesterday that Lubitz had suffered from depression during a period when he broke off his training six years ago. It said he spent over a year in psychiatric treatment.

Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, has acknowledged that Lubitz had broken off his training in 2009 but says there was nothing in the pilot’s background to suggest he was a risk.

“After he was cleared again, he resumed training. He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colors. His flying abilities were flawless,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said on Thursday.

Bild, citing internal documents forwarded by Lufthansa’s Aero Medical Center to German authorities, reported that Lubitz had suffered from depression and anxiety, and had been judged to have suffered a “serious depressive episode” around the time he suspended his training.

Lufthansa and German prosecutors declined to comment on the report, which is likely to raise questions about the airline’s screening procedures and, if confirmed, could expose it to substantial liabilities.

An international agreement generally limits airline liability to around US$157,400 for each passenger who dies in a crash if families do not sue, but if families want to pursue compensation for greater damages, they can file lawsuits.

Lawyers who have represented families in past airline disasters said potential lawsuits could focus on whether Germanwings properly screened the co-pilot.

They could also question whether the airline should have had a policy requiring two or more people in its cockpits at all times during a flight.

Several airlines have already changed their cockpit rules in response to the crash.

German and Austrian airlines yesterday joined other international carriers in adopting a new safety rule to ensure two crew are in a plane’s cockpit at all times.

US regulators have long required a crew member to sit in the locked cockpit if one of the plane’s two pilots needs to go to the toilet or leave for another reason.

Strict procedures to securely lock cockpit doors have became standard since the September 11, 2001 attacks to prevent hijackers from taking control of civilian aircraft.

On Thursday, Canada ordered its airlines to also impose the two-person regulation, affecting Air Canada, Westjet and charter airline Air Transat.

The same day British airline easyJet, Norwegian Air Shuttle and Icelandair also confirmed policy changes.

Yesterday, German aviation industry body BDL and the transport ministry agreed to the rule for Lufthansa, including its subsidiary Germanwings, as well as Air Berlin, Condor and TUIfly.

The move also affects two Austrian carriers — Austrian Airlines and Flyniki — subsidiaries of Lufthansa and Air Berlin respectively.

The measure will be put into place immediately, said Austrian transport ministry spokeswoman Andrea Heigl.

“We would like European regulation to be adopted as quickly as possible,” she said.

Hungary’s low-cost Wizz Air also said it would adopt the two-crew rule.

European air safety regulations have so far not addressed the subject of the so-called “rule of two” on the flight deck.

However, the EU said yesterday it is studying whether to change the rules after the Germanwings disaster.

Airlines that already adhere to a rule of two include Ireland’s Ryanair, Finland’s Finnair and Spanish carrier Iberia.

French airline Corsair and British charter airline Thomson Airways said yesterday they would soon implement a mandatory two-person rule.

The two major Japanese airlines, JAL and ANA, said they were not considering such measures at this stage.

Lufthansa also said it had created the new position of head of safety for the group.




 

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