text: BERLIN The pilot who appears to have deliberately crashed a plane carrying 149 others into the French Alps received psychiatric treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago, German tabloid Bild reported on Friday. 
   
   Prosecutors in France, after listening to the cockpit voice recorders, offered no motive for why Andreas Lubitz, 27, would take the controls of the Airbus A320, lock the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately set it veering down from cruising altitude at 3,000 feet per minute. 
   
   Citing internal documents and Lufthansa sources, Bild said Lubitz spent a total of one and a half years in psychiatric treatment and that the relevant documents would be passed to French investigators once they had been examined by German authorities. 
   
   Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr told a news conference on Thursday that Lubitz had taken a break during his training six years ago, but did not explain why and said he had passed all tests to be fit to fly. 
   
   "Six years ago there was a lengthy interruption in his training. After he was cleared again, he resumed training. He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colors. His flying abilities were flawless," Spohr said. 
   
   A Lufthansa spokeswoman said on Friday the airline would not comment on the state of health of the pilot. 
   
   (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; editing by John Stonestreet) ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, seen here on his Facebook profile, controlled the plane's descent, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said 
   
   The man suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings A320 plane in the French Alps required treatment for depression, German media say. 
   
   Regular assessments were recommended in Andreas Lubitz's official notes after a serious episode some years ago. 
   
   The Barcelona-Duesseldorf plane crashed on Tuesday, killing 150 people. 
   
   Data from the plane's voice recorder suggest Mr Lubitz purposely started a descent as the pilot was locked out of the cockpit. 
   
   Several airlines have now pledged to change their rules to ensure at least two crew members are present in the cockpit at all times. 
   
   Police have searched two German properties used by Mr Lubitz, taking away boxes and a computer. 
   
   'Heavily depressive' 
   
   When Mr Lubitz finished training in 2009, he was diagnosed with a serious depressive episode and went on to receive treatment for a year and a half, the German news site Bild reports. 
   
   Internal documents quoted by Bild and German broadcaster ARD say a note on Mr Lubitz's aviation authority file recommended regular psychological assessment. 
   
   Andreas Lubitz: Germanwings co-pilot under scrutiny 
   
   Started training in 2008, at Bremen and Arizona. Training was interrupted for some months - but he later passed all tests and was deemed fit to fly 
   
   Working as co-pilot, or first officer, since 2013. Appeared pleased with his job 
   
   Lived in town of Montabaur, near Frankfurt, reportedly with his parents. Kept a flat in Duesseldorf and had many friends 
   
   Facebook profile suggests the active lifestyle of a keen runner, with an interest in pop music 
   
   Who was Andreas Lubitz? 
   
   Mr Lubitz's employers have confirmed that his training was interrupted for several months six years ago. 
   
   But they have not said why. Carsten Spohr - the head of Lufthansa, the German carrier that owns Germanwings - said on Thursday that Mr Lubitz was only able to resume training after his suitability was "re-established". 
   
   "He passed all the subsequent tests and checks with flying colours," Mr Spohr was quoted as saying. 
   
   German media are also reporting that investigators have found evidence of mental health problems at Mr Lubitz's Duesseldorf flat. 
   
   Earlier, another media report quoted a police spokesman as saying "a very significant clue as to what has happened" had been found during the search of the house the 27-year-old shared with his parents in Montabaur, north of Frankfurt, without specifying what. 
   
   Police said the discovery was not a suicide note. 
   
   French Prime Minister Manual Valls said the investigation was ongoing, but that "everything is pointing to a criminal, crazy, suicidal action that we cannot comprehend". 
   
   He said investigators and Lufthansa would have to "shed light on the career and profile of this pilot". 
   
   Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Lubitz is said to have been an enthusiastic runner and is here pictured running a half-marathon in September 2009 
   
   Image copyright AP Image caption Police have been coming and going at the home of Mr Lubitz's parents north of Frankfurt, which is also the focus of a media spotlight 
   
   Image copyright AFP Image caption Families of the crash victims visited Seyne-les-Alpes, a town close to the crash site 
   
   Image copyright Getty Images Image caption In the hamlet of Vernet, a "viewing tent" was set up where families could look in the direction of the crash site. Families laid flowers and photographs in memory of those lost. 
   
   Police continued to come and go at the Montabaur house throughout Thursday morning, reports the BBC's Anna Holligan who is outside. 
   
   She says there are concerns for Mr Lubitz's parents, who have suffered not just one trauma - their son dying in a crash - but the subsequent shock of finding out he may have been responsible for the tragedy. 
   
   Axe 
   
   Based on data from the recovered "black box" voice recorder, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said on Thursday that Mr Lubitz appeared to want to "destroy the plane". 
   
   The evidence suggested the pilot had left the cockpit, probably to go to the toilet, during which the door was barred. He fought unsuccessfully to get back in, he said. 
   
   Bild quotes security sources as saying that the pilot used an axe to try to break down the door. 
   
   A Germanwings spokesperson would only confirm that an emergency axe is part of the equipment on board an A320. 
   
   Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Rescuer Jean Sebastien Beaud describes the plane crash scene as "surreal" 
   
   What happened in the final half hour? 
   
   Family members of some of the 150 passengers and crew who died have visited Seyne-les-Alpes, near the crash site, reported Reuters news agency. 
   
   They were accompanied by psychologists, paramedics and Red Cross workers, and a youth centre in the town was set up to receive them, it said. 
   
   Families are providing DNA samples to allow for identification of victims' remains. 
   
   Meanwhile, investigators continue to comb the crash site for body parts, debris and the second "black box", which records flight data and still has not been found three days after the plane crashed. 
   
   Flight club 
   
   Members of the Westerwald flight club, where the co-pilot was a member, expressed their shock at the revelations about Mr Lubitz's mental history. 
   
   Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Members of the flight club where Andreas Lubitz was a member have been talking about his personality 
   
   "Andreas was a very nice young man, who did his training here. He was part of the club," Peter Reucker said. 
   
   "[He was] funny, sometimes a bit quiet, but apart from that a young man like many others that we have here. He integrated well. 
   
   "I'm absolutely speechless. I have no explanation for this," Mr Reucker added. 
   
   Crash site close-ups 
   
   Other incidents thought to be caused by deliberate pilot action 
   
   29 November 2013: A flight between Mozambique and Angola crashed in Namibia, killing 33 people. Initial investigation results suggested the accident was deliberately carried out by the captain shortly after the first officer (also known as the co-pilot) had left the flight deck. 
   
   A flight between Mozambique and Angola crashed in Namibia, killing 33 people. Initial investigation results suggested the accident was deliberately carried out by the captain shortly after the first officer (also known as the co-pilot) had left the flight deck. 31 October 1999: An EgyptAir Boeing 767 went into a rapid descent 30 minutes after taking off from New York, killing 217 people. An investigation suggested that the crash was caused deliberately by the relief first officer but the evidence was not conclusive. 
   
   An EgyptAir Boeing 767 went into a rapid descent 30 minutes after taking off from New York, killing 217 people. An investigation suggested that the crash was caused deliberately by the relief first officer but the evidence was not conclusive. 19 December 1997: More than 100 people were killed when a Boeing 737 travelling from Indonesia to Singapore crashed. The pilot - suffering from "multiple work-related difficulties" - was suspected of switching off the flight recorders and intentionally putting the plane into a dive. 
   
   Source: Aviation Safety Network
target: – Police last night searched Germanwings co-pilot's Andreas Lubitz's apartment in Duesseldorf, Germany, and the home he shared with his parents in the small town of Montabaur, removing boxes of possessions and what one investigator called a potentially "significant clue" that will be taken for testing, reports the BBC. German prosecutors later announced that they found medical documents in the 27-year-old's home that indicate "an existing illness and appropriate medical treatment," reports the AP. Prosecutor Ralf Herrenbrueck further said that torn-up sick notes for the day of the crash "support the current preliminary assessment that the deceased hid his illness from his employer and colleagues." It's not clear if the notes and the "clue" are the same. Herrenbrueck says no suicide note or evidence of any political or religious motivation for Lubitz's actions were uncovered. An unconfirmed report in Germany's Bild newspaper stated that Lubitz was diagnosed with a "severe depressive episode" in 2009 and had to repeat flying classes because of depression. The German paper says Lubitz was having relationship problems with his girlfriend, and police are looking into whether he was having a "personal life crisis," the Guardian reports. So far, airline chiefs have said only that there "was a lengthy interruption in his training" six years ago and he passed all subsequent checks with "flying colors," reports Reuters.