Killer pilot 'spiked captain's coffee with diuretic drug'
Fresh details have emerged about the pilot accused of deliberately crashing a German Air wings passenger jet in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
German newspaper Express.de reports that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz may have spiked the flight captain's coffee with a diuretic drug, to increase his need to go to the toilet and leave the cockpit during the doomed flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.
Investigators reportedly found evidence that the 27-year-old, who had a history of depression, had surfed the internet for information about the drug - which increases the need to urinate - before the murder-suicide at the controls of the airbus A320 on March 24.
According to reports in Germany, investigators uncovered evidence of several searches on Lubitz's laptop.
Prosecutors have not yet commented on the latest revelation, but it is expected more information gleaned from his computer files will be released this week.
Prosecutors believe Lubitz locked captain, Patrick Sondheimer, out of the cockpit after he went to the toilet and plunged the plane into a descent, before crashing it into a mountainside, killing 144 passengers and six crew members.
The father-of-two, who has been hailed a hero, frantically tried to smash his way into the cockpit using a crowbar as he shouted at alleged killer Lubitz: 'For God's sake, open this door'."
It is understood he was piloting the ill-fated flight because he had changed his shifts to spend more time with his family.
Meanwhile, German doctors want pilots to have to undergo expanded drug and mental health tests in the wake of the disaster.
German flag carrier acknowledged last week that Lubitz had informed its flight school in mid-2009, when resuming training after a lengthy medical absence, that he had suffered from "previous episode of severe depression".
He later received the medical certificate confirming he was fit to fly.
German prosecutors said last week that Lubitz was diagnosed as suicidal "several years ago", before he became a pilot, but doctors had recently found no sign he intended to hurt himself or others.
However Lubitz was receiving treatment from neurologists and psychiatrists who had signed him off sick from work a number of times, including the day of the crash.
Ripped up sick notes were found in a flat used by Lubitz, which authorities believe indicates that Lubitz was trying to hide his illness from his employer.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
