Overview
- He died on December 6 at age 74, with Lufthansa spokesman Michael Lamberty confirming the news Sunday on LinkedIn, and no cause was disclosed.
- Raps led Lufthansa’s flight school from 1990, became chief pilot and head of flight operations in 1996, and later served on the Passage Board overseeing fleet safety.
- In March 2007 he was among the first pilots licensed on the Airbus A380 and on March 19 he captained Lufthansa’s first A380 flight to the United States.
- After retiring he continued in aviation as an honorary professor at Hochschule Bremen and as an adviser in industry bodies including IATA and the Deutsche Lufthansa Berlin Stiftung.
- He gained a broad public profile through TV, YouTube documentaries and podcasts, where he described the A380 as the best aircraft he had flown.