German Co-Pilot Consulted '41 Doctors' in Five Years

French prosecutors say that Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of the Germanwings flight, suffered from vision problems and several doctors had deemed him unfit to fly. Mr. Lubitz had visited 41 doctors in the five years leading up to the incident. The Associated Press reported, citing Brice Robin, the prosecutor from Marseille, that due to German privacy laws, doctors did not communicate Mr. Lubitz's issues to his employers. Mr. Robin made these statements on Thursday, June 11, after meeting with the families of the victims of the Germanwings flight. Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot of flight 9525 of Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, crashed the plane into the French Alps on April 24, when the pilot had left the cockpit, while en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. All 150 passengers on board were killed. Following the incident, extensive investigations revealed that the co-pilot was struggling with a range of mental health issues, including depression, and had tendencies towards self-harm. The French prosecutor emphasized on Thursday that there is 'no doubt' that Andreas Lubitz 'deliberately' crashed the plane, killing himself and the other passengers. According to Brice Robin, Mr. Lubitz faced vision problems and 'feared he would go blind.' In the month leading up to the incident, he had visited seven doctors, some of whom had diagnosed him as 'psychologically unstable' and others had stated he was 'unfit' to fly. The French news agency also reported that Mr. Lubitz had been examined by 41 doctors over five years. According to the Marseille prosecutor, these issues were not communicated to Andreas Lubitz's employer because German privacy laws did not allow doctors to do so. The Associated Press reported that the question now facing investigators, prosecutors, and the victims' families is who is 'responsible' for this unprecedented incident in aviation history.