The German aviation authority did not know about co-pilot Andreas Lubitz's medical background prior to the Germanwings crash that killed 150 people, it told Reuters on Sunday, raising more questions over medical oversight of pilots, Reuters reported. Lubitz, believed to have deliberately steered the plane into a mountain in the French Alps, broke off his pilot training for several months in 2009 and upon restarting informed the Lufthansa pilot training school by email he had overcome a period of severe depression. Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, has said he passed all medical and suitability tests upon restarting training. The Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA), the German authority which issues pilots' licences based on annual fit-to-fly certificates given by doctors and can impose restrictions on pilots, said it had "no information at all" prior to the crash about this period of depression. According to European regulations, doctors should refer pilots with psychiatric conditions to the licensing authority. The regulations do not specify if this also applies to pilots who have suffered from psychiatric conditions in the past. "Lufthansa meets its duty to provide information to the LBA," the airline said in a statement on Sunday. It declined to comment further on the Lubitz case, citing the ongoing investigation. Lufthansa also declined to say to whom Lubitz had sent the email in 2009 informing the flight school of the depression. -- SPA 21:53 LOCAL TIME 18:53 GMT تغريد
