Germanwings crash investigators to examine 'systemic weaknesses'
French aviation investigators have said they will examine "systemic weaknesses" such as cockpit entry rules and psychological screening procedures that could have led to the Germanwings crash.
It comes as Lufthansa said its insurers have set aside $300m to deal with possible fallout from the disaster.
Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who in the past had been treated for suicidal tendencies, locked the captain out of the cockpit on March 24 before deliberately crashing the Airbus 320 in the French Alps.
All 150 people aboard the flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf were killed.
The French aviation agency, BEA, said it aims to provide a "detailed analysis" of the cockpit voice recorder information and any other flight data but also plans to widen its search to examine issues that could affect the worldwide aviation industry.
"(We will study) systemic weaknesses (that) might possibly have led to this aviation disaster," BEA said in its first statement since prosecutors detailed the co-pilot's suspected role.
The agency is studying both psychological screening procedures and rules applied to entering and leaving the cockpit in the industry, as well as cockpit door locking systems.
The BEA announcement signalled the latest re-think about airline procedures in the wake of the Germanwings crash.
It jolted an aviation industry already reeling from other disasters such as the disappearance of planes over oceans and the shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine.
While the BEA's findings only apply to this accident, if the agency discovered wider problems it could spark aviation regulators and airline companies worldwide to make changes.
This has already occurred in the last week, with several airlines and the European aviation regulator announcing that they now recommend having two people in the cockpit at all times.
In Frankfurt, Lufthansa spokeswoman Kerstin Lau said 300 million US dollars (£203 million) is the amount currently reserved by insurers to deal with "all costs arising in connection with the case".
Last week, Lufthansa - Germanwings' parent company - offered immediate aid of up to 50,000 euro (£36,000) per passenger to relatives of the victims. Those payments are separate from eventual compensation payments.
Airlines are required under a treaty governing deaths and injuries aboard international flights to compensate relatives of victims for proven damages up to a limit of about 157,000 US dollars (£106,000) regardless of what caused the crash.
However, higher compensation is possible if a carrier is held liable.
German prosecutors say Lubitz, 27, received psychotherapy before obtaining his pilot's license and that medical records from that time referred to "suicidal tendencies".
They have given no dates for his treatment, but said visits to doctors since then showed no record of any suicidal tendencies or aggression against others.
They have found torn-up sick notes from doctors, including one that would have kept Lubitz off work on the day of the crash.
Lufthansa has declined to say whether it knew anything about Lubitz's health problems. It says the young pilot had passed all required medical checks since starting work for its subsidiary in September 2013.
Investigators said they hope to have found DNA samples for everyone killed on the Germanwings flight within the next 24 hours.
Lieutenant Colonel Jean-Marc Menichini, speaking at the crash site in the Alpine town of Le Vernet, said the search was still on for the second black box.
Construction workers have cut a road to the crash site to speed recovery efforts. Previously emergency workers had to rely on helicopters, which could carry only a few people or items at a time.
"It's essential for carrying men and equipment. We can accelerate the work. It will be much easier not to have to depend on the weather," said Lieutenant Colonel Philippe Sansa of the local rescue service.
