Prosecutor: German co-pilot hid illness from employer

Show Caption Hide Caption Prosecutor: German co-pilot hid illness from employer German prosecutors say the co-pilot accused of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane hid an illness from his employers. A doctor's note found inside his home reportedly says Lubitz required an extensive medical leave from work.

The co-pilot blamed for deliberately crashing a German airliner into the Alps had concealed an illness from his employers and tore up a doctor's note that called for him to go on medical leave on the day of the tragedy, according to a statement from German prosecutors.

Police found the medical certificate and other documents during a search Thursday at the Dusseldorf apartment of Andreas Lubitz, the 27-year-old Germanwings co-pilot.

Germanwings said in a statement Friday that it had received no such sick leave note for the day of the ill-fated flight. Lufthansa, the parent-company of Germanwings, previously said Lubitz was "100% fit to fly."

The statement by the Dusseldorf prosecutors office said police found no suicide note or claim of responsibility from the co-pilot, who investigators said deliberately crashed the plane on Tuesday, killing all 150 people on board. The officials also said the search found no evidence of a political or religious background linked to the tragedy.

The statement said police found medical documents "indicating an existing illness and corresponding medical treatment."

"A torn-up current sick note, also valid for the day of the incident " was among the documents, the prosecutor said, adding that this "would -- according to preliminary evaluation -- support the assumption that the deceased had concealed his illness towards his employer and his occupational environment.""

The statement did not disclose the nature of Lubitz's illness, although German media outlets reported he may have suffered from depression. Dusseldorf University clinic said Lubitz went to the facility in February and March, most recently on March 10, for diagnosis but denied he was treated there for depression, Sky News reports.

Germany's Federal Aviation Office has requested that Lufthansa provide access to the co-pilot's medical records, DPA reports. The information would then be sent to French investigators, the news agency said.

The cockpit voice recorder revealed Lubitz deliberately locked the pilot out of the cockpit and then initiated a descent that led to the deaths of all aboard the plane bound from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, French prosecutor Brice Robin said Thursday. He provided no motive.

Investigators searched Lubitz's apartment in Dusseldorf and the home of his parents in Montabaur, about 40 miles from Bonn. They were seen removing boxes and large blue bags from both residences.

Unconfirmed reports circulating in the German media suggested that Lubitz — by all official accounts a skilled pilot with a distinguished training record who was not being monitored by security services — may have been suffering from depression.

Bild reported that on several occasions his training at Lufthansa's flight school in Phoenix, Ariz., was interrupted for mental health reasons after he had a "serious depressive episode." The German tabloid reported that Lubitz may even have undergone treatment after being what it called "demoted" several times during his training in the United States.

The newspaper referred to him as a mass murderer. It said the "episode" was noted on his medical records held by the aviation authorities. Der Spiegel also separately reported the findings that have not been confirmed.

Germany's Federal Aviation Office would not confirm the report. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Thursday that Lubitz's training was "interrupted" six years ago, but declined to elaborate.

Thomas Winkelmann, the low-cost carrier's chief executive, released a statement Friday saying that the airline has begun setting up a family assistance center in Marseille, France, and that briefings with family members will start there on Saturday.

"The suffering and pain this catastrophe has caused is immeasurable," he said in the statement. "No words can express it and no amount of consolation is sufficient but we want to be there for visiting family members and friends if our support is desired."

Contributing: Mihret Yohannes in Berlin