Why is it ? "they" can always find this sort of information "after the fact" Perhaps those who hold the lives of thousands of people in their hands should be tested on a more regular basis

Officials: co-pilot in German plane crash was treated for suicidal tendencies

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Share via EmailChristoph Kumpa, spokesman of Duesseldorf's public prosecution, addresses journalists in front of the prosecution's building in Duesseldorf, western Germany, on March 30, 2015. The co-pilot believed to have deliberately crashed a Germanwings plane was treated for suicidal tendencies "several years ago," before he received his pilot's licence, German prosecutors said. AFP PHOTO / SASCHA SCHUERMANNSASCHA SCHUERMANN/AFP/Getty Images (Sascha Schuermann/AFP/Getty Images)

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By Michael Birnbaum and Anthony Faiola March 30

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DÜSSELDORF, Germany — The co-pilot suspected of crashing a Germanwings jetliner had been treated years earlier for suicidal tendencies, German authorities said Monday, in a development that was sure to fuel an emerging debate about the limits of medical privacy.

Andreas Lubitz, 27, “had received psychotherapy for an extended period of time, during which suicidal tendencies had been noted,” Düsseldorf Prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Monday. But he said the treatment occurred “several years ago,” before he was issued a pilot’s license. More recent encounters with doctors showed no suicidal tendencies, nor have investigators found any evidence of advance planning or any clear motive, Kumpa said.
Kumpa also said investigators have found no evidence that Lubitz was suffering from any physical ailments. An official familiar with the investigation said separately that Lubitz had been consulting doctors for vision issues but that those problems may have been psychosomatic.