Investigators: Lubitz Sped Up Descent To Crash Airbus (Updated)

Andreas Lubitz, the co-pilot found to have crashed a Germanwings A320 into the French Alps on March 24, not only set the Airbus' autopilot to descend into the ground, but changed the settings several times to increase the aircraft's speed, French investigators stated Friday in a BBC report. The findings came after the retrieval of the flight data recorder from a ravine at the crash site, soon afterGerman prosecutors revealed that Lubitz had recently searched online for information about suicide and cockpit door security.

Authorities, in their ongoing search through Lubitz's Dusseldorf apartment, found his iPad, which revealed the pilot's search history between March 16 and the day before the crash, The New York Times reported."During this time the user was searching for medical treatments, as well as informing himself about ways and possibilities of killing himself," they said in a statement. "On at least one day the person concerned also spent several minutes looking up search terms about cockpit doors and their safety measures."

The probe into the crash that killed all 150 aboard the Barcelona-to-Dusseldorf flight has revealed that Lubitz, who for years suffered from depression, commanded the aircraft to descend into the mountains after locking the captain outside the cockpit during cruise flight. He was undergoing treatment for depression as well as an eye problem that could have affected his medical qualification. He had informed Germanwings' parent, Lufthansa, in 2009 he suffered from severe depression and had a months-long lapse in his flight training. The findings have airlines examining issues ranging from screening pilots' mental health to the aspects of locked cockpit doors and policies on crew members' presence in the cockpit. Some airlines already adjusted their rules to require that two crew members be in cockpits at all times.