Pilot hid health condition that would have banned flying

Investigators carry boxes from the apartment of Germanwings airliner jet co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, in Duesseldorf, Germany, March 26, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Lufthansa and German prosecutors declined to comment on thereport, which is likely to raise questions about the airline'sscreening procedures for its pilots and, if confirmed, could expose it to substantial liabilities in the crash.

An international agreement generally limits airline liability to around $157,400 for each passenger who dies in acrash if families do not sue, but if families want to pursue compensation for greater damages, they can file lawsuits.

Lawyers who have represented families in past airline disasters told Reuters that potential lawsuits could focus on whether Germanwings properly screened the co-pilot before and during his employment, and on whether the airline should have had a policy requiring two or more people in its cockpits at all times during a flight.

Several airlines have already changed their cockpit rules in response to the crash, although Spohr said on Thursday that he saw no need for Lufthansa to do so.

"MAD SUICIDAL ACTION"

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls urged patience on Fridaybut said the German airline had an obligation to share all information on Lubitz with investigators.

"We must wait for the end of the inquiry. I am careful whenthere is a judicial inquiry, but everything points to acriminal, mad, suicidal action that we cannot comprehend," Valls told iTELE.

"It is up to this company to provide a maximum of information so that we can understand why this pilot committedthis dreadful act."

Lubitz was described by acquaintances in his hometown of Montabaur in western Germany as a friendly but quiet man who learned to fly gliders at a local club before advancing to commercial aviation as a co-pilot at Germanwings in 2013.

"I got to know him, or I should say reacquainted with him, as a very nice, fun and polite young man," said Klaus Radke, the head of the local flight club where Lubitz received his first flying licence years ago.

But a friend who met Lubitz six years ago and flew with him in gliding school, said he had become increasingly withdrawn over the past year.

Before Lubitz became a co-pilot in late 2013, the friend said the two had gone to movies and clubs together. But he noticed at two birthday parties they attended over the past year that he had retreated into a shell, speaking very little.