Germanwings Pilot Planned ‘Spectacular Gesture’ that Would Make Everyone ‘Remember’ Him, Claims Ex-Girlfriend

lubitz-Reuters
Reuters

Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was planning a “spectacular gesture” that would make everyone “remember” who he was, an ex-girlfriend has claimed.

Speaking to German tabloid Bild, the woman, known only as Maria, said Lubitz had told her he was going to do something that would “change the system”, after which people would “know my name”.

Maria added that Lubitz knew how to hide his feelings and keep his mental anguish from those closest to him.

Her revelation comes after a Dusseldorf prosecutor revealed Lubitz tore up medical notes that declared him unfit to fly on the day he deliberately crashed his plane in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.

Maria said that Lubitz would wake up in the middle of the night, screaming in terror: “We’re going down!”

She added: “When I heard about the crash, there was just a tape playing in my head of what he said: ‘One day I will do something that will change the system and everyone will then know my name and remember me.’

“I did not know what he meant by that at the time, but now it’s clear.”

Lubitz had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Dusseldorf as recently as 10 March. Although the hospital has refused to say what he was being treated for, Lubitz is reported to have taken time out while training to be pilot due to mental illness.

A spokesman for the Dusseldorf prosecutor’s office, which searched Lubitz’s homes in the wake of the crash, said: “Documents with medical contents were confiscated that point towards an existing illness and corresponding treatment by doctors.

“The fact there are sick notes saying he was unable to work, among other things, that were found torn up, which were recent and even from the day of the crime, support the assumption based on the preliminary examination that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and his professional colleagues.”

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