Germanwings crash caused deliberately by mentally ill copilot: BEA

A French rescue worker inspects the debris from the Germanwings Airbus A320 at the site of the crash, near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, in this picture taken on March 29, 2015.  [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety of France (BEA) confirmed Sunday in its final investigation report that the Germanwings crash in March 2015 was caused deliberately by the copilot.

"The collision with the ground was due to the deliberate and planned action of the copilot who decided to commit suicide while alone in the cockpit," the BEA said in the report.

According to the BEA, the copilot Andreas Lubitz "suffered from a mental disorder with psychotic symptoms" since December 2014.

The report said that the copilot waited till he was alone in the cockpit, "then intentionally modified the autopilot settings to order the aeroplane to descend to the ground."

As measures to prevent such catastrophes, the BEA called on authorities concerned to "require health care providers to inform appropriate authorities when a patient's health is very likely to impact public safety."

It also recommended that all European Union member states "perform routine analysis of in-flight incapacitation, in particular on psychological and psychiatric issues."

An Airbus 320 plane of German budget airline Germanwings crashed in southern France on March 24, 2015, while en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, killing 150 people on board.