[Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you from New York. I want to welcome our viewers both here in the United States and around the world. We begin with our top story: the tragic plane crash of Flight 9525. And today, we have heard from the father of the man officials believe deliberately killed himself along with 149 other people. The co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 that crashed into the French Alps. The family of Andreas Lubitz traveling to the crash site, meeting with officials describe the co-pilot's father as completely devastated and as a man who feels responsible in part for this tragedy. German authorities are sharply focused on who cleared Andreas Lubitz physically and mentally to fly. An aviation official tells us he passed his flight physical last summer. But unnamed sources tell "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times" that the co-pilot was hiding a mental illness from his bosses. Also at a cathedral in a French town near the crash site, church leaders paid tribute to the victims, 150 people on board that Airbus 320. Will Ripley joins me from Cologne, Germany, the headquarters of Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings. And, Will, I know you have new information coming out about what investigators have found inside Andreas Lubitz's apartment. What can you tell us?
[Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. There are several reports that are coming out right now, Poppy. A prominent German newspaper "Bild am Sonntag" coming out with a startling revelation that investigators found evidence of severe psychological problems, including medications to treat those psychological problems in the apartment of the 27-year- old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz. Now, specifically, according to "The New York Times," these were antidepressant medications. And we saw yesterday when we were out at the apartment, investigators on several occasions going in, gathering evidence, and coming back out. Apparently, those investigators or people close to the investigation are leaking information to these newspapers because officially this information has not been released. But the discovery of prescription drugs, possibly antidepressants, in this apartment, of course, is significant because it continues to build this case that this young man, this co-pilot was suffering from a mental instability, was being treated, according to the newspaper, by neurologists, by psychologists and perhaps that may also have something to do with the medical documents that were found ripped up and thrown in the trash can in his apartment, information that apparently Lubitz was hiding from his employer, Lufthansa, Poppy.
[Harlow:] I'm wondering what if anything Lufthansa is saying about Lubitz and how fit, indeed, he was to fly, because I know the chief executive a few days ago said that he passed all the relevant tests with flying colors, and they had no indication that anything could be amiss.
[Ripley:] Yes, and that has been echoed by our reporting on the ground here. Pam Brown speaking close to people like this, getting refraction Lufthansa as well, saying all of this comes as a surprise to them. They were unaware of this was going on. Again, aside from the pilot's annual physical exam, any other conditions including psychological, the airline policy is the pilot must self-report. And in this case, it is believed Lubitz did not do that. He didn't know his employer know he was experiencing problems, psychological, physical, or otherwise, because there were also that new reports from "New York Times" that Lubitz was diagnosed with some sort of a vision problem, a problem which could have potentially ended his flying career something important to him, something he dreamed about as a teenager. So, if you couple the psychological problems with this possible physical ailment, you can see investigators build this case to figure out a potential motive. One other thing they did not find, though, in his apartment, no indication of addiction to drugs or alcohol, also no suicide or any indications of radical political views. So, this medical and psychological is what the focus is on right now here in Germany, Poppy.
[Harlow:] Yes. Keep in mind, that according to some of the German sources telling our Pamela Brown that he had passed his physical back in the summer of 2014, one would assume that physical includes a vision test, and apparently he passed. So, we'll keep digging into that. Will Ripley, thank you very much. And while officials try to learn everything they can about the co- pilot, search crews in the French Alps still have not found that critical flight data recorder. They are recovering victims' bodies, remain, anything they can for their family members. Our Nic Robertson joins us from there. Good evening, Nic.
[Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Each day begins here, helicopters lifting off. Local rescue pilot David Hurault among them, Friday particularly tough.
[David Hurault, Search & Rescue Helicopter Pilot:] The winds was always turning inside so, sometimes this way, sometimes this way, and for us, it was very difficult and the meshing, we are always in very, very closely knit.
[Robertson:] Lives are in his hands, luring recovery teams to the crash site.
[Hurault:] In the closed crews area, very, very close from the mountains. It's a very short place, so it's quite difficult for us.
[Robertson:] As the teams make their gruesome discoveries, locate the victim, he comes back, lifting literally swinging them homeward.
[Hurault:] I don't want to focus on the possible victims I see on the floor. So I'm proud because I know I will bring back bodies to the family and I think it's very important. It's my duty.
[Robertson:] From the mountains, the bodies are brought here to a mobile forensics lab for biometric and DNA testing. All of this happening in a remote and small Alpine village. [voice-over]: And here they have opened their hearts, touched by the tragedy that is unfolding around them. People at the nearby villages gathering for a service at the new memorial to the crash victims. David, the helicopter pilot, and his community, are still in shock.
[Hurault:] We can't imagine it was a very big plane, A320. They were flying over the place. You can see millions, millions of feet of pieces of the airplanes, and that's all. We can't recognize anything.
[Robertson:] Each day ends with the helicopter's safe return. Normality for everyone here is still a long way off.
[Harlow:] Nic Robertson joins me live now from really the base area where those search and recovery teams are leaving from every day. Nic, I know they're trying to build a road to make it easier for them to access the victims' remains, especially given weather conditions and how perilous the search and recovery effort has been. What do we know about that?
[Robertson:] Yes, Poppy. Really, we talk here about the way the community is opening its heart, while in the small village where that memorial is built, the mayor of the village with the council decided that one of the ways they can help not just with the recovery effort but help with the families because he's meeting the families coming to the village to see the memorial and be close to the crash site, so he's meeting these grieving people and he realized the best way they can help them in the village is to get them as close as possible to the crash site. So, that's what he said the villagers are going to do now. They've agreed to spend the money to build a road to get you know, to connect the village to the crash site. And he says he hopes once the recovery effort is finished and that crash site is cleared then family members will be able to come and visit and maybe just help them a little bit with closure here, Poppy.
[Harlow:] Nic Robertson, thank you very much for joining us. I appreciate it. Thank you for your report. We'll get back to you as we learn more. I want to bring in our panel to discuss this. CNN aviation analyst with me, Richard Quest, clinical and forensic psychologist Jeff Gardere is with us, and 777 captain and CNN aviation analyst Les Abend as well. Miles O'Brien, a pilot and CNN aviation analyst, joins me as well. Let me begin with you, Jeff, because we just got this news in to CNN from a highly regarded German newspaper saying that Lubitz, the co- pilot, suffered from a severe psychosomatic illness and that during their search of his apartment, police investigators seized several prescription drugs to treat this psychological illness. This paper is also reporting that Lubitz suffered from severe subjective burnout syndrome and severe depression. Look, we don't know what the drugs were that were found. And frankly we don't know if he was taking them at the time, but what do you make of this information we're just getting in?
[Jeff Gardere, Clinical And Forensic Psychologist:] Well, it tells us what we first thought, that of course there was an issue with mental illness to do something so horrific, something so violent as we've seen perhaps with some of the school shooters. This is very similar in that way. Certainly, there is depression there. Certainly, I am surprised about the psychosomatic illness. What we're talking about is someone who in some ways had manifested their own illness but that is based on stress, it's based on anxiety, it's based on psychosomatic illness. What we're talking about is someone who in some ways had manifested their own illness, but that is based on stress, it's based on anxiety, it's based on the depression, and exhaustion. So, this was someone who I thought, and we talked about this offline, who was very fragile emotionally and pushed over the edge could do something really horrific.
[Harlow:] Miles, we know that during his pilot training, Lubitz took a break back in 2009, and the German newspaper "Bild" is reporting that he suffered, quote, "a serious depressive episode around that time." Miles, as a pilot and aviation expert, if that's the case, should he have been allowed back into the program to finish the training?
[Miles O'brien, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] In a word, no. It there were all kinds of signs that this is a person who shouldn't be entrusted with the lives of others in that context. But there's kind of this "don't ask, don't tell" scenario, which exists in airlines. Airlines do put people through psychological testing when they hire them. But after that, they really don't want to hear about it unless you self- report. And in the climate of adversarial the adversarial nature between management and pilots, the mistrust that exists between both entities, pilots are loathe to self-report because they're not certain they'll be taken care of. As a matter of fact, to the contrary, they self- report, they know they're probably going to end their careers. So, there's the catch-22. What we need is proper psychological screening, ongoing, for the extent that pilots are active in their careers.
[Harlow:] But I think in part, Miles, to address that and, Les, I want you to weigh in as a pilot, the FAA passed a law in 2010 saying, look, pilots that are battling depression aren't just not going to be allowed to fly, they can take up to a certain amount of medication to treat depression like millions of Americans have, and they can continue doing their job. So, where's the line?
[Les Abend, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Well, I mean, first of all, they have to be taking that medication for a certain period of time before the FAA will put them back on flight status. Where do you draw the line? It's an evaluation by a psychologist at that point. You know, I agree with pretty much most of what Miles is saying. The contentious nature I think when you have a pilot that has a problem, especially one that's been employed for quite some time, the airline and the union are going to work together to try to get them some help. Of course, if it comes to light, it's you know, "don't ask, don't tell" situation, I agree to some extent.
[Harlow:] That's really problematic.
[Abend:] It can be. But we have a support system that we can get help, get this pilot off of flight status. I've been trained in critical instance and stress management, which mostly mitigates posttraumatic stress disorder, that being said, I have recommended to our supervisors, our chief pilots and said, listen, we should haven't them go to work today and let's let them work out the problem.
[Harlow:] Richard, you've been speaking with pilots and chief executives of airlines. For some critics, as Miles points out, the airlines just test them than hire them, then don't want to hear about it. Is that the read you're getting?
[Quest:] No, it's not. It's not they don't want to hear about it. No chief executive, no chief medical officer wants to lose an aircraft and passengers. So, it's not a situation of shutting my eyes to it. I'm guessing that nobody really thought it was ever going to come to something like this in that scenario. There's never been the dramatic need that the last week has shown for this. Yes, there's an element of self-reporting that has to take place. And, yes, medical examiners in the United States, there's this last question on the form, have you consulted a medical adviser or the exact phraseology of it. So, there are avenues to it. But to your substantive point, should you sit down and have a psychological appraisal every six months? No.
[Harlow:] No.
[Quest:] That's the the feeling is that's not been necessary.
[Harlow:] Miles, final word on that. Do you agree that it is only necessary to have a physical examination every six months to one year, or should psychological evaluations come right along with that?
[O'brien:] I think of course that should be part of the exam, of course. The health of the mind is part of the picture. We've gotten away with it far long time because aviation had basically pilots checked on each other. But when you have really green pilots, low-time pilots coming into these low-cost carriers, there's no opportunity to evaluate that person. They are unknown quantities, and so that check and balance that occurred just sort of the peer review is not able to come into play. So, there would have to be other ways to root these people out.
[Harlow:] Really quickly, Richard.
[Quest:] The problem here, Miles, is, yes, you may be right in a perfect world, but who's going to do that appraisal on that psychological aspect? You're going to have to have a professional psychologist or somebody trained in that aspect to do it. And more than that
[Abend:] And why not?
[Quest:] Well, and
[O'brien:] So, what's the matter with that? What's the matter with that, Richard?
[Gardere:] You have a psychologist do the mental health. We should be doing that not just for pilots but anyone who has such a position of responsibility including police officers.
[Harlow:] Gentlemen, hold that thought. We'll be back with our panel in a moment. Miles, we'll be back in a moment. Quick break. Much more on the crash of Flight 9525 ahead. Also, this huge unrest in Yemen that continues fears of a wider war. We're going to talk about this as Yemen's foreign minister tells CNN the Saudi-led troops, ground troops could be in the country of Yemen within days. The details, next. But, first, this throughout the hour we will be remembering the victims of Germanwings Flight 9525, including Australian nurse Carol Friday and her 29-year-old son, Greg. The two were on a European vacation together. Greg dreamed of finding a job teaching in France. Carol celebrated her 68th birthday on Monday, the day before she died in that crash.