Redeem now The girlfriend of the Germanwings copilot who crashed an Airbus plane into the French alps last week has fled her home in fear of being blamed for the disaster, the Daily Mail reports.
Kathrin Goldbach, 26, and her family, have left the small German town of Montabaur and do not have plans to return, the Mail reports.
"The hatred of the world is coming down upon her, and you know this place is so small, it is very hard for them to come back here," a family friend told the Mail.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Investigators believe Andreas Lubitz, 27, locked the Germanwings captain out of the cockpit and then deliberately steered the plane into the mountains, killing 150 people on board.
Goldbach, who is a school teacher, was living with Lubitz at the time of the crash. However, reports from German media suggest their relationship was strained. Lubitz reportedly told Goldbach he was involved with a Germanwings flight attendant named Maria.
Lubitz's mental health has also been at the center of an investigation into the crash. Last week, investigators found a torn up medical note at Lubitz's home declaring him unfit for work.
Lubitz allegedly lied to doctors when seeking medical attention for vision problems, telling them he was on sick leave even though he was still flying commercial planes, German paper Bild first reported.
Lufthansa, which owns budget airline Germanwings, revealed earlier this week that Lubitz notified officials that he suffered from severe depression during flight training school in 2009.
German prosecutors said Monday that the copilot was treated for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot's license.
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