‘One day I will change the whole system’

Police find a variety of medications at Lubitz’s apartment in Dusseldorf, suggesting Lubitz had a serious psychosomatic illness. An ex-lover, Maria, claims Lubitz told her he was planning an act so heinous his name would be remembered forever. Lubitz had said:

One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it.

Maria also said Lubitz was a tormented, erratic man who was great at hiding his darkest thoughts. He would wake up from nightmares screaming, “We’re going down!”

We spoke a lot about work and then he became another person. He became agitated about the circumstances in which he had to work, too little money, anxiety about his contract and too much pressure. During conversations he’d suddenly throw a tantrum and scream at me. I was afraid. He even once locked me in the bathroom for a long time. The torn up sick notes make sense now to me and were a clear sign that he did not want to admit that his big dream of flying as a captain was over.