EU found ‘issues’ with German aviation regulator

A European regulator found “issues” with Germany’s aviation authority in a regular review of air safety enforcement, the European Commission said on Saturday. Its statement did not say when the review was carried out, but the Wall Street Journal said the Commission told Berlin in November “to remedy the long-standing problems” - months before last week’s Germanwings crash that killed all 150 people aboard. The Journal cited two people familiar with the matter as saying EU officials had found the aviation authority, the Luftfahrtbundesamt (LBA), had a lack of staff, which could have limited its ability to carry out checks on planes and crew, such as medical checks.

On the basis of EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) recommendations, the Commission has addressed the issues to Germany to require compliance. Germany’s replies are currently being assessed.

the Commission spokesman said in the emailed statement

Meanwhile, French investigators have ended their search for bodies in the Alps where the Germanwings passenger jet crashed, a local official said on Saturday. Prosecutors believe German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately flew the Airbus A320 jet into the mountainside during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, pulverizing the aircraft and making recovery efforts extremely complicated.

The search for bodies is over, but the search for the victims’ personal belongings is continuing.

a spokesman for the local government authority in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence region told Reuters

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