Andreas Lubitz Lied To Doctors About Being Off Work While Seeking Treatment For Eye Trauma: Report

Germanwings Flight 9525 co-pilot Andreas Lubitz allegedly lied to doctors about being on a sick leave when he sought medical attention for an eye condition, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing German newspaper Bild. The 27-year-old is suspected of deliberately crashing the plane in the French Alps on March 24.

The paper, citing sources from the investigation, claimed that Lubitz concealed the fact that he was still working as a pilot. Investigators probing the crash also reportedly claimed that Lubitz was involved in a car crash, which allegedly occurred in late 2014, following which he was suffering from trauma and vision problems, Reuters reported.

Investigators, who are trying to determine why Lubitz might have intentionally caused the crash, have not found any suicide note in Lubitz’s apartment in Dusseldorf or his parents' house in Montabaur. Lufthansa had acknowledged Tuesday that Lubitz experienced a “deep depressive episode” while he was attending flight-training school in 2009, but that he had passed all his medical checks since. Authorities also revealed that he had been treated for suicidal tendencies years before the crash.

Meanwhile, recovery teams, who have been working to find the plane’s debris and the flight data recorder, have found several cellphones at the crash site, Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, a French military spokesman, said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

The phones have not yet been thoroughly examined, and have so far failed to provide any clues. French magazine Paris-Match reported earlier this week that they had obtained a cellphone video showing the final moments of Flight 9525. However, investigators have denied the existence of any such video.

The Airbus A320 was traveling from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it crashed in the remote of southern France with 150 people on board. Authorities reportedly said that no bodies were found intact at the crash site.