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              German Pilot Allegedly Lied to Doctors About Flying

   by Reuters

   The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an airliner
   in the French Alps allegedly lied to doctors, telling them he was on
   sick leave rather than still flying commercial planes, German daily
   Bild reported on Thursday.

   The revelation came as Germany set up a task force to learn safety
   lessons from the crash, which killed 150 people last week.

   Citing sources close to the investigation, Bild said Andreas Lubitz,
   27, had sought medical help to try to cure an eye condition.

   Although Lubitz told doctors about his job as a pilot, and in some
   cases about his employer Germanwings, he deliberately concealed that he
   was still working, the paper said.

   Had Lubitz told doctors he was still flying, they might have felt the
   need to break their vow of patient confidentiality and inform his
   employers because he might be a danger to others.

   Complaint of car crash

   Bild said documents available to investigators had revealed Lubitz said
   he was in a car crash at the end of 2014 and had complained of
   resulting trauma and vision problems.

   Lubitz's motive for locking the captain out of the cockpit of the A320
   and apparently deliberately steering the aircraft into a mountain are
   still a mystery.

   According to medical records, Lubitz said he was taking medicines for
   depression, anxiety disorders and panic attacks, Bild reported. The
   drugs included the tranquilizer Lorazepam.

   Germanwings parent Lufthansa has said Lubitz informed the flight school
   in 2009 that he had gone through a "previous episode of severe
   depression."

   That may affect compensation claims faced by Lufthansa, although
   families of the victims could end up receiving vastly different
   payouts, lawyers say.

   Changes to medical and psychological tests for pilots will be among the
   subjects considered by a new task force of experts, which Germany
   announced Thursday.

   The task force also will look at changing a mechanism allowing the
   cockpit door to be locked from the inside - a step taken after the
   September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

   Prompt discussion urged

   Klaus-Peter Siegloch, president of the BDL German air industry
   association, said the issues should be discussed as quickly as
   possible.

   "We don't want to wait until the end of the investigation, which can
   take a relatively long time for these kind of air catastrophes," he
   said.

   The task force is also open to discussing other issues arising from the
   French investigation, including making passengers show identification
   when flying in the Europe's passport-free Schengen area of 26
   countries.

   Some ministers say that, because of the Schengen system, it was not
   immediately clear exactly who was on board the crashed plane.
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   ying/2703926.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/german-pilot-lied-to-doctors-about-flying/2703926.html