When French officials said Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have deliberately crashed Flight 4U9525, the 28-year-old's name was added to an infamous gallery of pilots bent on destruction. Here's a look at previous examples of passenger planes brought down on purpose.
2015: GERMANWINGS FLIGHT 4U9525
All 150 people aboard died when the flight from Barcelona, Spain to Dusseldorf, Germany, crashed into the French Alps on Tuesday. French investigators on Thursday said it appeared Lubitz intentionally brought the plane into a rapid descent and had a "desire to destroy" the Airbus.
2013: MOZAMBICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT TM-470
Aviation officials ruled that the pilot of Mozambican Airlines Flight TM470 had "clear intention" to crash the plane when the plane went down in Namibia, killing 33 people. The pilot had made a "deliberate series of manoeuvers" that caused the crash, the BBC reported investigators saying, and that the reasons for his actions remained a mystery.
1999: EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 990
The co-pilot of EgyptAir Flight 990 was carrying out an act of revenge when he downed his plane off New England in 1999, killing 217 people, sources close to the investigation said. Pilot Gamil el-Batouty had been reprimanded by one of his seniors for "sexual misconduct," the Guardian reported, and was told he would no longer be flying U.S. routes, which carry extra pay. It is thought el-Batouty crashed the plane in response to the sanctions.
1997: SILKAIR 185
The Singapore-bound Boeing 737 crashed into Indonesia's Palembang River shortly after take-off in December 1997, killing 104 people. U.S. investigators found that the voice recorder in the cockpit had been intentionally disconnected, according to the BBC, and pilot Tsu Way Ming did not try to right the plane after it went into a nose dive.
1994: ROYAL AIR MAROC FLIGHT 185
Forty-four people died when the Royal Air Maroc twin-turboprop ATR-42 crashed in the Atlas Mountains just 10 minutes after taking off from Agadir Airport in Morocco. Investigators found the accident was due to the "deliberate will of the pilot who wished to end his life," according to The Associated Press. A Moroccan pilots' union disputed this ruling, however, saying the captain had signaled he was having technical difficulties prior to take-off.
1982: JAPAN AIR LINES FLIGHT DC-8
Flight DC-8 fell 300 yards short of the main runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport after a struggle in the cockpit, investigators ruled in 1984. The plane was carrying 174 people, 24 of whom were killed in the accident. The New York Times reported that the captain had been grounded for a year for a mental illness.
