In the hometown of the co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings plane there is amazement at the new developments announced in France.

Andreas Lubitz appears to have deliberately crashed into a mountain after locking the captain out of the cockpit, say prosecutors.

In Montabaur, between Frankfurt and Bonne, people reacted at the flight club he belonged to.

One member, Peter Ruecker, said: “He was a very nice young man. He was a lot of fun, although sometimes a bit quiet. He was just another boy like so many others here.”

And by all accounts, Lubitz was seen as someone right for the job.

The head of the Westerwald flight club, Laus Radke, said: “They are professional pilots. They have a certain internal control mechanism. They are examined and have to be healthy.

“We have to have certain qualities to fly. A doctor talks to us and we have to be physically fit and mentally fit.”

28-year-old Lubitz lived with his parents in Montabaur, but he also had lodgings in Dusseldorf. The