Families Angry And Upset That Co-Pilot Was Not Prevented From Flying Given His History Of Mental Health

The families of British and Spanish victims killed when a Germanwings plane was deliberately crashed by its co-pilot exactly one-year-ago (24th March) have confirmed that they are preparing to commence legal proceedings in the USA against the Arizona flight school where he trained.

Specialist aviation lawyers at Irwin Mitchell in the UK are working together with other leading aviation lawyers in the USA  and Germany and will be issuing proceedings shortly against the flight school which it is alleged should have prevented Andreas Lubitz from qualifying as a commercial airline pilot.

The Germanwings-operated Airbus A320 on Flight 4U9525 crashed in the French Alps on 24 March 2015 killing all 150 people on board following an eight-minute descent. It was later revealed that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had deliberately crashed the plane as he sought to end his own life.

It was also revealed after the crash that Lubitz had visited 41 doctors in the years before the crash in relation to his mental health problems.

Clive Garner, head of Aviation Law at Irwin Mitchell and one of the expert team representing British and Spanish families said:

Expert Opinion

“As we reach the first anniversary of this terrible tragedy, the victims’ families deserve answers as to how this disaster was allowed to happen.

“Our clients understandably remain incredibly upset and angry about what happened on and before 24 March 2015 and while nothing can bring their loved ones back, they want those who were responsible for allowing Lubitz to qualify as a pilot and fly commercial airliners to be brought to justice. As well as securing justice for those that they have lost, our clients also want lessons to be learned to avoid a similar tragedy occurring in the future.

“To that end we have joined forces with other specialist law firms representing a large number of families from across the world as we prepare a group action against the US flight School in Arizona, who trained Lubitz and deemed him fit to fly airliners for Germanwings.” Clive Garner - Consultant

Read more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in Air Accident Claims.