DUESSELFDORF, Germany — A press conference on Thursday revealed chilling new details about the man who deliberately crashed a Germanwings flight in the French Alps.
According to German Prosecutor Mario Kampa, investigators recovered Andreas Lubitz’s personal computer from his home in Duesseldorf.
It was discovered the co-pilot searched for ways to commit suicide and information on cockpit door security just days before the crash.
The news came as Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt and the German Aviation Association, which represents German airlines, announced the creation of an expert task force to examine what went wrong in the Germanwings crash.
The panel will consider whether the requirements for passing medicals need to be changed, and will discuss “the question of recognizing psychological peculiarities,” Dobrindt said.
They are also examining whether changes need to be made to cockpit doors.
Lubitz’s mental health has been the focus of the crash investigation since the first black box, the cockpit voice recorder, was found not long after the crash.
French officials did not say Thursday what condition the flight data recorder was in when it was found on the mountain, but the devices are built to withstand tremendous pressure and temperature.
It was to be taken to the French accident investigation agency, known by the acronym BEA, in Paris for further investigation.
Investigators said Thursday they also found the second “black box” and several cellphones amid the crash debris
The phones haven’t been thoroughly examined.
German airline Lufthansa confirmed Tuesday it knew six years ago that Lubitz’s medical records referred to “suicidal tendencies” due to an episode of “severe depression”.
However, visits to doctors since then showed no record of any suicidal tendencies or aggression toward others.
Investigators believe Lubitz locked his captain out of the cockpit and intentionally crashed Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf into a mountainside in the southern French Alps on March 24.
All 150 people on board the plane were killed.
