Was Germanwings crash co-pilot 'expecting a baby' with on-off girlfriend?
The co-pilot suspected of crashing a passenger jet may have been expecting a baby with his on-off girlfriend of seven years.
German media are also reporting that his remains have been found at the crash scene at the Alps.
Andreas Lubitz and his partner Kathrin Goldbach, 26, whom he wanted to marry, reportedly found out just two weeks before the crash about the pregnancy, German media reports.
The Bild newspaper reports the couple had a rocky relationship but were still living together at the time of the crash.
Miss Goldbach reportedly broke off their relationship with Lubitz because his unpredictable personality left her fearing for her safety.
Friends also told the paper he was a 'control freak' and that he had had a five-month fling with a air stewardess called Maria because he was 'always seeking assurances' about his appearance.
The news on the pregnancy comes as it has also been claimed passengers on-board the flight may have known about the danger for five minutes before the crash.
Andreas Lubitz was reportedly told that his on-off girlfriend was having a baby and he was having vision problems which could have prompted his decision to commit mass murder. Photo: Supplied
Lubitz also reportedly may have been suffering from a detached retina but investigators are unsure whether his vision problems had physical or psychological causes, a German newspaper said on Sunday.
In a statement from his flying club they said: "Andreas died as the First Officer on the tragic flight.
"Andreas joined the club as a youngster; he wanted to make his dream of flying a reality. He began as a glider student, and made it all the way to pilot an Airbus A380. He realised his dream; the dream for which he has now paid with his life.
"The members of the LSC Westereald mourn for Andreas and the 149 victims of the catastrophe on 24/03/2015. Our deepest sympathy goes to their relatives.
"We will never forget Andreas."
Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin has now given a disturbing account of the cockpit voice recordings extracted from the black box recordings, reports the Mirror.
On the recording Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz can be heard gently persuading captain Patrick Sondenheimer, 34, that he can go to the toilet and then a noise is heard of what appears to be Lubitz’ chair being moved and the lock of the cockpit door.
Bild am Sonntag also reported how the captain of the Germanwings Airbus had screamed "open the damn door!" to the co-pilot as he tried to get back into the locked cockpit before the jet crashed last Tuesday, killing all 150 on board.
Another German newspaper, Welt am Sonntag, quoted a senior investigator as saying the 27-year-old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz "was treated by several neurologists and psychiatrists" and that a number of medications had been found in his apartment.
Police also discovered personal notes that showed Lubitz suffered from "severe subjective overstress symptoms", he added.
Lufthansa, the parent company of the budget airline, said the carrier was unaware of a psychosomatic or any other illness affecting Lubitz. "We have no information of our own on that," a Lufthansa spokesman said.
A spokesman for state prosecutors in Duesseldorf declined to comment on Sunday on the various media reports, adding there would be no official statement before Monday.
The mass circulation Bild am Sonntag said investigators had found evidence that Lubitz feared losing his eyesight, apparently because of a detached retina.
However, it was unclear whether this was due to an organic failure or psychosomatic illness, when physical problems are thought to be caused or aggravated by psychological factors such as stress.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE"
Investigators have retrieved cockpit voice recordings from one of the A320 jet's "black boxes", which they say show Lubitz locked himself alone in the cockpit, before causing the jet to crash in southern France as it headed to Duesseldorf from Barcelona.
Bild am Sonntag reported that the voice recorder data showed that the locked-out captain said to his colleague inside the cockpit: "For God's sake, open the door."
The pilot can then be heard trying to smash the door down.
Even when he yells: "Open the damn door!" Lubitz does not give an answer as passengers' screams can be heard in the background just seconds before the fatal crash, the paper said.
AIRBUS BOSS CRITICISES MEDIA
The chief executive of Airbus, which made the aircraft that Lubitz crashed, criticised uninformed experts sounding off about the disaster on television talk shows and he called for better oversight of the media.
"Some (experts) speculated without any facts, fantasised and lied. That makes a mockery of the victims," Tom Enders was quoted as saying by Bild am Sonntag.
Airbus has not been in the crosshairs of investigators following the crash as evidence early on pointed to a deliberate act by Lubitz, but French investigators warned on Saturday that it was too early to rule out other explanations for the crash.
Berlin aims to review safety rules for airlines in cooperation with the industry. "There are high safety standards in the aviation sector, but they still need regular updating," Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt told Bild am Sonntag.
Several airlines, including Lufthansa, have changed their rules since the crash and now require two crew members in the cockpit at all times, a measure already mandatory in the United States but not in Europe.
