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German pilot visited glider field near crash site as a child

Spanish police officers pay tribute next to a stele and flowers laid in memory of the victims in the area where the Germanwings jetliner crashed in Le Vernet, France, Friday, March 27, 2015. Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work on Tuesday, the day authorities say he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said. (AP Photo/Claude Paris) Spanish police officers pay tribute next to a stele and flowers laid in memory of the victims in the area where the Germanwings jetliner crashed in Le Vernet, France, Friday, March 27, 2015. Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz appears to have hidden evidence of an illness from his employers, including having been excused by a doctor from work on Tuesday, the day authorities say he crashed a passenger plane into a mountain, prosecutors said. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)

By Associated Press March 28, 2015 1 min read

SISTERON, France (AP) – A member of a gliding club in the French Alps says the German co-pilot accused of crashing a passenger plane nearby frequented the club as a child with his parents.

Francis Kefer, a member of the club in the town of Sisteron, said on i-Tele television that Andreas Lubitz’ family and other members of the gliding club in his home town of Montabaur, Germany, came to the region regularly between 1996 and 2003.

French prosecutors say Lubitz deliberately slammed the Germanwings flight into a mountain on Tuesday. The crash site is about 60 kilometers (40 miles) away from the Sisteron glider airfield.

A special Mass is being held Saturday in the nearby town of Dignes-les-Bains to honor the victims.

German prosecutors are trying to determine why Lubitz crashed the plane.