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LONDON (AP) — Experts say it's possible for someone with mental health problems to hide those problems from an employer -- or from a doctor who doesn't have specialized training.
Dr. Raj Persaud, who's a fellow with Britain's Royal College of Psychiatrists, says airline pilots know that "if they give the wrong answer, they could lose their license." He adds that a "very good" mental health professional who spends a lot of time with the pilot could detect a problem -- but that he doesn't think pilots are getting "in-depth assessments."
German prosecutors haven't said what type of illness Andreas Lubitz apparently hid from his employers at Germanwings before he flew a plane into a French mountain, killing 150 people. But German media report that he had received treatment for depression.
A German aviation official told The Associated Press that Lubitz's file at the country's Federal Aviation Office contained a note indicating that he needed "specific regular medical examination."
The president of the German pilots union says medical checkups are done by certified doctors and take place once a year.
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121-c-18-(David Rising, AP correspondent)-"treated for depression"-AP correspondent David Rising reports German prosecutors searching the house of co-pilot Andreas Lubitz found notes indicating he was sick, but not letting on to anyone. (27 Mar 2015)
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120-c-19-(David Rising, AP correspondent)-"going to work"-AP correspondent David Rising reports German prosecutors have found that Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had an illness that he hid from his employer. (27 Mar 2015)
<<CUT *120 (03/27/15)££ 00:19 "going to work"
APPHOTO FOS201: In this Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009 photo Andreas Lubitz competes at the Airportrun in Hamburg, northern Germany. Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work the day he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said Friday, March 27, 2015. The evidence came from the search of Lubitz's homes in two German cities for an explanation of why he crashed the Airbus A320 into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. (AP Photo/Michael Mueller) (13 Sep 2009)
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APPHOTO FAS108: A police car waits in front of the house of the family of Andreas Lubitz in Montabaur, Germany, Friday, March 27, 2015. Lubitz was the co-pilot on the Germanwings plane that crashed with 150 people on board on Tuesday in the French Alps. (AP Photo Frank Augstein) (27 Mar 2015)
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