Germanwings co-pilot ‘sought treatment for eyesight problems’ before crash

New reports say that Andreas Lubitz suffered from vision problems, former girlfriend says Lubitz had nightmares of plane crashing

The co-pilot suspected of “deliberately” crashing the Germanwings plane into a mountain in the French Alps on Tuesday sought treatment for vision problems that may have jeopardised his ability to continue working as a pilot, reports say.  

Sources describes as officials with knowledge of the investigation told the New York Times that authorities investigating the crash have not ruled out the possibility that the visual impairment could have been psychosomatic. The severity of the reported condition is not yet known.

The French prosecutor has said that Lubitz deliberately locked himself alone into the cockpot of the Germanwings Airbus on Tuesday before guiding the plane into a mountain, killing all 150 people on board. It also believed that he ignored demands from the captain to be let back in, when the plane crashed. Since then investigators, airline regulators, politicians, and the families of victims have sought answers as they attempt to build up any possible motives.

Authorities also say that the 27-year-old pilot, Andreas Lubitz, was being treated for psychological issues and had hidden aspects of his medical condition from his employer. The police found antidepressants during a search of his apartment here on Thursday.

Andreas Lubitz's former girlfriend claims he was a tormented man who would wake up from nightmares screaming “we’re going down!”

The woman, a flight stewardess speaking under an assumed name, said he told her he was receiving psychiatric treatment and would wake up distressed in the night during their five-month relationship in 2014.

“At night, he woke up and screamed: ‘We're going down!’ because he had nightmares,” she said. “He knew how to hide from other people what was really going on inside.”

She was quoted by the German newspaper Bild as recalling how Lubitz would change when he talked about the pressures and conditions of his job. The woman also quoted Lubitz as that someday he would “do something that will change the entire system and everyone will know my name and remember it.”

"He never talked much about his illness, only that he was in psychiatric treatment,” she said.

"We always talked a lot about work and then he became a different person. He became upset about the conditions we worked under: too little money, fear of losing the contract, too much pressure."

Police officers searching Lubitz’s apartment in Düsseldorf on Thursday found notes from various doctors testifying that he was too sick to work, including on the day of the crash. Germanwings later confirmed it did not receive sick ntoes from Lubitz.

The University of Dusseldorf Hospital released a statement on Friday confirming Lubitz had been given a "diagnostic evaluation" at the hospital in March. It later confirmed that he was not treated for depression there.