Emails Discovered During Investigation Include Medical Documents

Lufthansa's investigation of Germanwings Flight 9525 has uncovered emails that were exchanged between Andreas Lubitz and Lufthansa in 2009 which included medical documents that Lubitz had submitted when he resumed his flight training. The documents indicate that Lubitz had a "previous episode of severe depression."

Lufthansa revealed the discovery Tuesday.

The airline described the move as a "swift and seamless clarification" of the situation, and said it was sharing all if the information with prosecutors, according to a report from CNN.

A Lufthansa spokesperson also said that Lubitz had been issued a medical certificate, had passed all of his examinations, and "held all the licenses required."

Authorities are looking into whether Lubitz feared losing his pilot's license because of a medical condition.

In other developments, the German tabloid Bild is reporting that a cell phone memory chip has been recovered from the wreckage that allegedly contains video of the final seconds of the flight, though it says the authenticity of the video has not been verified. The images are said to be blurry, and no individuals can be identified. But French prosecutor Brice Robin said that the video does appear to support the information collected from the Cockpit Voice Recorder.

And Reuters is reporting that Lufthansa has cancelled an anniversary event planned for April 15 celebrating the airline's 60th year. Instead, the airline said, it will show the official state memorial service being held for those who died in the crash in Cologne Cathedral on April 17th.

FMI: www.lufthansagroup.com/en/company.html