To fabricate an affair is bad enough, especially if you never knew the person at all. But to do that in the way that the print edition of BILD of March 28, 2015 did lacks any form of decency and served only to ruin the reputation of a man – after he was dead.

According to the BILD:

“He boasted: One day everyone will know my name The stewardess Maria W. (26) was a long-time girlfriend of death-pilot Andreas Lubitz (27). For five months last year they flew throughout Europe and secretly stayed together in hotels. BILD reporter John Puthenpurackal checked their identity. He claims that she produced a photo showing herself with the amok pilot on a flight in the same crew.”*

*Evidence: see boulevard newspaper article on “Links” page, Link 1 to topic

Whether the BILD reporter invented the lady or the lady invented herself is unimportant, because the entire story is fictitious, no matter the source. Andreas’s log book clearly shows which routes he was assigned, and he was required to return to his home airport at the completion of his workday, which would necessarily make it impossible to stay overnight in hotels away from his base. Due to the daily crew changes a flight shared with this specific stewardess could have occurred only exceptionally and randomly. Rather, Andreas always slept at his apartment in Düsseldorf which he shared with his true long-time girlfriend.

The assertions of Maria W. are clearly disproved.

During our witness hearing with the public prosecutor in March 2015 we asked why he had not questioned this Maria W. His reply was that hers was a “fictitious story”. Interestingly, it turned out in March 2017 that the person does exist. Only her story is fictitious …

https://www.buzzfeed.com/petrasorge/dieses-bild-interview-uber-germanwings-pilot-andreas-lubitz?utm_term=.pk8GEJAAN#.peK68Rggn

If the BILD indeed possessed the above-mentioned identifying photograph, it is curious that it did not publish it. Instead, the newspaper printed a photo showing an anonymous woman from behind.

Four days after the crash this invented story provided building blocks to further strengthen the previously generated perception of Andreas Lubitz: emotional outbreaks, threats and the promise of a sensational act. It is strange that if Maria W. was afraid (as claimed in the report), she did not inform anyone but continued to fly with him.

Strange also is the controversy which took place via Twitter in March 2017 between a journalist, Ms Sorge, and the current chairman of the BILD editorial board, Julian Reichelt (who has only been in this position since February 2017), who included the publication of e-mails containing the opinions of the public prosecutor.

http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/twitter-streit-ueber-journalistische-arbeit-bild-gegen-zeit.2907.de.html?dram:article_id=382348

Andreas was committed to the happy relationship with his girlfriend and he was not at all the type to seek affairs. Furthermore, in 2014 he was certainly not in psychiatric treatment, which Maria W. claimed to be the case. We had regular contact with him and he visited us often when he was free. He frequently sent us photographs of his travelling life. He would certainly have told us about a “new” friend.

This BILD article contains not a single grain of truth.

L.U.

another bogus press report:

Was Andreas Lubitz deep in debt?

“War Lubitz hoch verschuldet?” – Bait for the reader – a new headline of the biggest German boulevard newspaper on 10 July 2015

Evidence: see boulevard newspaper article on “Links” page, Link 1 to topic

In this article the public was presented another “missing piece of the puzzle” regarding the possible motive for the crash, but this purely speculative question of debt is yet another personal attack with the aim of denigrating Andreas Lubitz: an attempt to reveal a “dark side” of the pilot and further promote a negative image already established in the public consciousness. With no background knowledge, the author of the article speculates about the repayment of training costs and other possible creditors.

Yes, it is true that “estate insolvency proceedings” were initiated and carried out. However, this is common procedure when there are special circumstances, as was the case here, and these proceedings have been concluded. After deductions of various expenses, a five-digit amount remained from Lubitz’s estate. This was distributed among the creditors according to priority and paid accordingly.

This clearly shows that Andreas was not heavily indebted prior to the crash, otherwise the creditors would have received nothing. So debts would not have been a motivating factor.

In connection with this topic, a relevant report appeared on 10 September 2015, exactly two months after the publication of the above-mentioned article and six months after the crash:

Allianz demands 7.5 million euros from Lubitz insolvency administrators

Evidence: see boulevard newspaper article on “Links” page, Link 2 to topic

Quote: “According to BILD information, Allianz’s industrial insurance division reported a claim of up to 7.5 million euros from pilot Andreas Lubitz († 27).”

In fact, the sum demanded was lower, showing that the author’s report was purely speculative.

But what is the public more likely to remember: “up to”? or “7.5 million”?