The Germanwings co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing an airliner in the French Alps allegedly lied to doctors, telling them he was on sick leave rather than flying commercial planes, German daily Bild reported on Thursday.
The revelation came as Germany set up a task force to learn safety lessons from the crash which killed 150 people last week.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Bild said 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz had sought medical help to try to cure an eye condition.
Had Lubitz told doctors he was still flying, they might have felt the need to break their vow of patient confidentiality and inform his employers because he might be a danger to others.
Bild said that documents available to investigators had revealed Lubitz said he was in a car crash at the end of 2014 and had complained of resulting trauma and vision problems.
Lubitz's motive for locking the captain out of the cockpit of the A320 and apparently deliberately steering the aircraft into a mountain are still a mystery.
Medical records showed that Lubitz said that he was taking medicines for depression, anxiety disorders and panic attacks, Bild said, adding they included tranquilizer Lorazepam.
Germanwings parent Lufthansa has said Lubitz informed the flight school in 2009 that he had gone through a "previous episode of severe depression".
That may affect compensation claims faced by Lufthansa although families of the victims could end up receiving vastly different payouts, say lawyers
One of the subjects to be considered by a new task force of experts, announced by Germany on Thursday, will be changes to medical and psychological tests for pilots, said the transport minister and head of the BDL German air industry association.
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