Pilot hid health condition that would have banned flying

Picture of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. [Photo/IC]

The pilot who crashed a plane in the French Alps had received a sick note fromdoctors showing he suffered a health condition that would have prevented him flying the day of the crash, which he apparently hid from his employer, German prosecutors said.

French prosecutors believe Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked himself alone in the cockpit of the Germanwings Airbus A320 on Tuesday and deliberately steered it into a mountain, killing all150 people on board.

"Documents with medical contents were confiscated that pointtowards an existing illness and corresponding treatment bydoctors," said the prosecutors' office in Duesseldorf, where the co-pilot lived and where the doomed flight from Barcelona was heading.

"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 illnessfrom his employer and his professional colleagues," the Germanprosecutors said.

The documents were found in searches of Lubitz's homes in Duesseldorf and in the town of Montabaur in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Reports in German media suggested that Lubitz had suffered from depression in the past, and that his employer would have been aware of his history.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Friday that Lubitz had suffered from depression during a period when he broke off his training six years ago. It said he spent over a year in psychiatric treatment.

Lufthansa, parent company of Germanwings, has acknowledged that Lubitz had broken off his training in 2009 but says there was nothing in the pilot's background to suggest he was a risk.

"After he was cleared again, he resumed training. He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colours. His flying abilities were flawless," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohrsaid on Thursday.

Bild, citing internal documents forwarded by Lufthansa's Aero Medical Center to German authorities, reported that Lubitzhad suffered from depression and anxiety, and had been judged to have suffered a "serious depressive episode" around the time he suspended his training.