Lufthansa may face corporate manslaughter charges over Germanwings disaster

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Lufthansa may yet face corporate manslaughter charges, it is claimed
The company allowed pilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, to fly despite depression
Lubitz is believed to have deliberately crashed the Airbus A320, killing 150
Doctors recommended he be given continued psychological treatment

Published: 02:22 EST, 13 April 2015 | Updated: 05:28 EST, 13 April 2015

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Lufthansa may face corporate manslaughter charges for allowing suicidal pilot Andreas Lubitz to fly after he suffered a bout of depression, it has been claimed.

Yesterday it emerged doctors at Lufthansa - Germanwings' parent company - had recommended that Lubitz be given psychological treatment even though he was deemed fit to fly.

Investigators believe the 27-year-old co-pilot locked his captain out of the cockpit before deliberately crashing the plane, killing all 150 people on board.

Lufthansa may face corporate manslaughter charges for allowing suicidal pilot Andreas Lubitz (pictured) to fly, it has been reported

Citing documents found by Germany's air transport authority, the Bild am Sonntag said the doctors wrote that 'Lubitz should continue to receive psychological treatment, even though he was deemed fit to fly' by an independent expert in 2009.

It comes as German magazine Focus reported the airline had opened itself up to criminal proceedings because one of its own psychiatrists allowed him to return to flying, The Mirror reported. Lufthansa declined to comment.

The Airbus A320 went down in a remote region of the French Alps en route to Dusseldorf from Barcelona.

Recordings from the flight data recorder suggest co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked the captain out of the cockpit before 'deliberately' crashing the jet.

Lufthansa has previously indicated it was under no obligation to report to Germany's national aviation authority of the fact Lubitz had suffered from depression before qualifying as a pilot several years ago.

Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper quoted the Federal Aviation Office as saying that it wasn't informed about Lubitz's previous depression before the March 24 crash of Flight 9525.

Lufthansa has said Lubitz informed its flight school when he returned from a several-month break in pilot training in 2009 that he had experienced an episode of 'severe depression'. It has said he subsequently passed all medical tests.

Investigators and emergency forces sift through the debris left at the scene of the Germanwings crash

The Airbus A320 went down in a remote region of the French Alps en route to Dusseldorf from Barcelona

Meanwhile, crash investigators are now examining a computer belonging to Lubitz to determine whether he 'spiked' his captain's drink to force him into the toilet.

The 27-year-old changed the aircraft's altitude to just 100 feet using the autopilot - sending it on a collision course with the Alps.

German prosecutors believe that Lubitz may have added a chemical to Captain Patrick Sodenheimer's coffee to remove him from the flight deck.

Once Captain Sodenheimer closed the cockpit door, Lubitz enabled special security features preventing the reinforced door from reopening.

The safety systems were introduced following the 9/11 attacks although the designers did not consider a rogue pilot seeking to kill himself while taking his passengers and fellow crew with him.