Andreas Günter Lubitz was born on December 18, 1987, in Germany and was raised primarily in Neuburg an der Donau, Bavaria, and later in Montabaur, Rhineland‑Palatinate. From adolescence, he displayed a strong interest in aviation. He took flying lessons at the Luftsportclub Westerwald, a civilian aviation club in Montabaur, and aspired to become a commercial airline pilot from an early age.

After completing secondary school, Lubitz was accepted into Lufthansa’s highly selective pilot trainee programme. In September 2008, he began formal training at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in Bremen. However, his career trajectory was interrupted later that year when he was hospitalised for a severe depressive episode accompanied by suicidal ideation. As a result, his flight training was suspended in November 2008.

Medical records later reviewed by investigators showed that Lubitz underwent psychiatric treatment and was temporarily deemed unfit to fly. Following treatment, his psychiatrist assessed his condition as resolved, and he was permitted to resume training in August 2009. During this period, Lubitz complied with medical oversight requirements and returned to aviation training under conditional certification.

In November 2010, Lubitz relocated to the United States to continue pilot training at the Lufthansa Airline Training Center in Goodyear, Arizona. Between 2011 and 2013, he worked as a flight attendant for Lufthansa while completing the remaining requirements for his commercial pilot’s licence. He ultimately qualified as a first officer and joined Germanwings in June 2014.

Despite outward professional progress, subsequent investigations revealed that Lubitz continued to experience recurring psychological distress. He sought treatment from numerous medical professionals, reporting sleep disturbances, anxiety, and fears of progressive vision loss. Evidence later showed that Lubitz consulted more than 40 doctors over several years, convinced that deteriorating eyesight would disqualify him from flying and end his career.

On March 24, 2015, Andreas Lubitz was serving as first officer aboard Germanwings Flight 9525, a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf. The aircraft departed Barcelona–El Prat Airport at 10:01 CET, approximately 26 minutes behind schedule, carrying 144 passengers and six crew members representing 19 nationalities.

The aircraft climbed normally to its assigned cruising altitude of 38,000 feet. At approximately 10:30 CET, after crossing the French coastline near Toulon, the captain exited the cockpit. Shortly thereafter, Lubitz locked the reinforced cockpit door from the inside, preventing re‑entry.

At 10:31 CET, without clearance from air traffic control, Lubitz programmed the autopilot to descend to an altitude of 100 feet and adjusted the aircraft’s speed, initiating a steady and deliberate descent. Air traffic controllers attempted repeated radio contact, receiving no response. Inside the cockpit, recordings later confirmed the captain’s attempts to regain entry, including knocking and physical attempts to breach the door.

The aircraft descended for approximately ten minutes at an average rate of 3,400 feet per minute. Lubitz remained silent throughout, while his breathing was audibly recorded on the cockpit voice recorder. At 10:41:05 CET, the Airbus A320 struck a mountainside in the French Alps at approximately 700 km/h. The aircraft disintegrated on impact, killing all 150 people on board.

Investigators from France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), Germany’s Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU), and international partners recovered and analysed the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder. Their findings conclusively determined that the crash was a deliberate act carried out by Lubitz, constituting a murder–suicide.

Further investigation revealed that Lubitz had been declared unfit to work by medical professionals in the days leading up to the flight and had been prescribed antidepressant and sleep medications. He concealed this information from his employer by withholding medical certificates. Digital evidence showed that he had researched suicide methods and cockpit security systems shortly before the crash.

The BEA’s final report, released on March 13, 2016, concluded that systemic failures in medical self‑reporting and confidentiality regulations allowed Lubitz to continue flying despite severe mental health impairment.

The crash prompted immediate global aviation policy changes, including the temporary introduction of the “two‑person cockpit rule” across many airlines. Although later rescinded in several jurisdictions, the disaster reshaped discussions around pilot mental health, medical confidentiality, and aviation safety oversight.

Lufthansa and its subsidiary Germanwings paid compensation to victims’ families, including €75,000 per victim and additional damages to close relatives. Multiple civil lawsuits were filed; courts ultimately ruled that neither Lufthansa nor its training centres were legally liable for the actions of Lubitz under existing law.