Germanwings Could Face Involuntary Homicide Charges
MARSEILLE, France, June 11 (UPI) — Germanwings airlines could face involuntary homicide charges for the crash of Flight 4U9525 which killed 150 people in March.
A French prosecutor on Thursday announced a criminal investigation into the crash in the French Alps. Brice Robin, a public prosecutor from the southern city of Marseille, appointed a panel of judges to determine whether charges should be brought against the airline due to negligence.
An investigation determined co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was responsible for the crash. He intentionally locked the pilot out of the cockpit and set the plane’s autopilot to 96 feet shortly before the crash.
“French law doesn’t allow the prosecutor to prosecute the co-pilot for voluntary homicide because he is dead — even though authorities have determined that he voluntarily and possibly with premeditation crashed the plane killing all aboard,” Robin said in a news conference Thursday.
The panel of judges could find other parties to blame for negligence leading to the crash.
“This could involve Lufthansa or Germanwings but at the moment we don’t have the evidence to bring charges against those companies,” Robin said.
During Thursday’s news conference, Robin revealed information from Lubitz’s medical records in the years leading up to the crash. The pilot saw 41 doctors in the last five years of his life, including seven in the last month, three of whom were psychiatrists. Lubitz was treated for a variety of complaints, including failing eyesight and depression.
Doctors found there was no organic cause for Lubitz’s eyesight complaints. He feared he was going blind and would lose his job, Robin said.
“I believe deep down he knew that if his employers knew about his eyesight loss … then he would lose his license and since [flying] was his main objective in life, the idea was unbearable to him,” Robin said.
