Comment on Doomed plane’s co-pilot ‘was happy he had the job’ with airline

MONTABAUR, Germany — Andreas Lubitz never appeared anything but thrilled to have landed a pilot’s job with Germanwings, according to those who helped him learn to fly as a teenager in this town in the forested hills of western Germany. On Thursday, French prosecutors said Lubitz, the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525, “intentionally” crashed the jet into the side of a mountain Tuesday in the French Alps. Members of his hometown flight club in Montabaur, where he renewed his glider license last fall, said the 27-year-old Lubitz appeared to be happy with the job he had at the airline, a low-cost carrier in the Lufthansa Group. After starting as a co-pilot with Germanwings in September 2013, Lubitz was upbeat when he returned to the LSC Westerwald e.V glider club to update his glider pilot’s license with about 20 takeoffs. “He was happy he had the job with Germanwings and he was doing well,” said longtime club member Peter Ruecker, who watched Lubitz learn to fly.