French police end Germanwings debris recovery in Alps

[DIGNE-LES-BAINS, France] French military police said on Monday they had wrapped up an operation to recover debris from the crash site in the Alps where a Germanwings plane smashed into the mountainside, leaving 150 people dead.

A police source said pulverised fragments of the Airbus A320 were being stored in a hangar near the crash site and clean-up operations were now set to start, nearly a month after the crash.

The Germanwings Airbus 320 was flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf when it crashed in the French Alps on March 24, killing everyone aboard, including 72 Germans and 50 Spaniards.

Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had been diagnosed as suicidal in the past, is believed to have deliberately crashed the plane after locking the pilot out of the cockpit.

He was receiving treatment from neurologists and psychiatrists who had signed him off sick from work a number of times, including on the day of the crash.

The aviation disaster highlighted the question of pilots' mental health and saw industry doctors urge more extensive medical checks for those tasked with flying aircraft.

Ripped up sick notes were found in a flat used by Lubitz, which authorities believe indicates that the 27-year-old was trying to hide his illness from his employer.

AFP