Germanwings pilot got licence despite mental fitness questions

Five years ag,o Federal Aviation Administration officials questioned the mental fitness of the Germanwings pilot who crashed an airliner in the French Alps last month. 

However, they awarded him a US pilot licence after his German doctor said he had fully recovered from severe depression, government records show.

The records show Andreas Lubitz applied for a US pilot licence while he was employed by Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, and was training to be a pilot at a flight school in Phoenix in 2010.

He initially submitted a medical form to the FAA asserting he had no mental disorders. He then resubmitted the form, acknowledging he had been treated for severe depression from 2008 to 2009.

The FAA initially sent Lubitz a letter warning that his application could be denied and giving him 30 days to provide a letter from his doctor describing his treatment and his current condition.

The licence was granted after he provided letters from his doctor describing his treatment and saying he had recovered.