Overview
- The claim follows the March 2015 crash of Germanwings Flight 4U9525 in the French Alps that killed 150 people after investigators concluded the co‑pilot deliberately steered the plane into a mountain.
- Thirty bereaved relatives are seeking up to €110,000 each in a suit filed against the Federal Republic and represented by the Luftfahrt‑Bundesamt, with the hearing scheduled for Friday, August 28.
- Plaintiffs say the pilot’s fitness to fly was not properly monitored and that flight medical checks failed to identify or manage psychiatric risks that could have prevented the crash.
- The court has warned the complaint may be legally unsound, has not scheduled witness or expert testimony for the first session, and indicated claimants may instead have to pursue remedies against Lufthansa.
- If judges dismiss the case on procedural or jurisdictional grounds the family effort to establish state responsibility for pilot medical oversight could be curtailed and leave core factual questions about oversight unanswered.