BBC Online: Andreas Lubitz, the young co-pilot believed to have caused Tuesday’s Germanwings plane crash, started flying as a teenager. He first took to the skies as member of a gliding club in his home town of Montabaur in west Germany, before fulfilling his ambition of becoming a professional pilot. Friends and neighbours have described him as a “quiet” but “fun” character, who was enjoying his job. A picture from his now defunct Facebook page shows him smiling happily in front of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. But on the morning of the 24 March the 27-year-old’s career took a dark turn. Mr Lubitz has been accused by French prosecutors of intentionally flying an Airbus 320 into the French Alps, with 150 people on board. Now investigators are poring over his background, trying to ascertain his exact mental state in the days leading up to crash. His parents’ home in Montabaur, a small town near Frankfurt of around 12,500 people, has become the focus of media attention. Police officers have been patrolling the quiet cul-de-sac to keep reporters and photographers away from the front door. Mr Lubitz also had a flat in Duesseldorf, which detectives are examining for evidence. More clues about exactly what happened are expected to emerge in the coming days. Pilot school His keen interest in flying started about the age of 14, when he joined the LSC Westerwald e.V. glider club in Montabaur. He learned to fly in a sleek white ASK-21 two-seat glider and went on to obtain his full licence, according to the club’s chairman Klaus Radke. Neighbours said running was another of his passions and he could be regularly seen jogging in the neighbourhood. In 2007 he graduated from high school and was accepted as a Lufthansa trainee the following year, enrolling at the company’s training school in Bremen. Mr Lubitz had a break in training about six years ago, lasting several months, according to Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr. But his suitability was assessed again and he resumed his studies. Then in September 2013 he joined the Lufthansa budget airline Germanwings. At the scene: BBC Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill It’s an unremarkable house in a small quiet housing estate. But this is where Andreas Lubitz is believed to have lived with his parents. The house with grey walls and dormer windows is now the focus of the world’s attention as investigators try to establish why he appears to have deliberately crashed the plane. “It’s just horrible,” said one neighbour as she held her little boy. She didn’t know the family well at all. But she worries now that Montabaur will always be remembered for this. A little while ago two people strode up to the front door escorted by police officers. A woman, maybe in her 30s, carrying a notebook, and a slightly older man, were let into the house and the heavy brown door slammed shut again. He initially worked as a flight attendant, according to German news website Spiegel, before starting his role as co-pilot. His duties would have included monitoring instruments, communicating with air traffic controllers and sharing control of the aircraft with the captain. He would have also been expected to steer the plane during the pilot’s breaks, or if he or she became ill. Lufthansa said Mr Lubitz had flown a total of 630 hours before Tuesday’s fatal crash. He underwent a regular security check on 27 January and it found nothing untoward. Previous security checks in 2008 and 2010 also showed no issues, the local government in Duesseldorf said. “He was 100% fit to fly without any restrictions or conditions,” Mr Spohr told reporters in Cologne. ‘Very happy’ Those who knew Mr Lubitz have described him as an affable young man, who gave no indications he was harbouring any harmful intent. Klaus Radke told the Associated Press that he saw him last autumn, when he returned to the club to renew his glider licence. “He seemed very enthusiastic about his career. I can’t remember anything where something wasn’t right,” he said. Mr Radke rejected the prosecutor’s claims that the plane was brought down intentionally. He said: “I don’t see how anyone can draw such conclusions before the investigation is completed.” Peter Ruecker, a long-time member of club, also insisted Mr Lubitz seemed “very happy” during their last meeting. “I’m just speechless. I don’t have any explanation for this. Knowing Andreas, this is just inconceivable for me,” he said. Mr Robin said there were no grounds to suspect that Mr Lubitz had carried out a terrorist attack. He refused to discuss his religious background. “Suicide” was also the wrong word to describe actions which killed so many other people, he said. “I don’t necessarily call it suicide when you have responsibility for 100 or so lives.”
