Co-pilot researched cockpit doors, suicide online – prosecutors

CENTER OF INVESTIGATION. A picture made available 27 March 2015 shows Andreas Lubitz, co-pilot of Germanwings flight 4U9525, running during the Aerportrace in Hamburg, Germany, 13 September 2009. Foto-Team-Mueller/EPA

BERLIN, Germany – German prosecutors said Thursday, April 2, the co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing a Germanwings plane in the French Alps had searched online for information about suicide and cockpit doors in the week before the disaster.

A tablet computer which prosecutors said was used by Andreas Lubitz was found in a search of a flat he used in Duesseldorf, the prosecutor's office in the western city said in a statement.(READ: Second black box found in French Alps plane crash)

"The browser history wasn't erased, in particular the search terms called up on this device in the period from March 16 to March 23 were able to be retraced," it said.

It indicated the user had been researching "medical methods of treatment", "ways to commit suicide" as well as "cockpit doors and their security provisions", it added. – Rappler.com