Grieving Germanwings families devastated after admin error forces funerals to be scrapped
RELATIVES of some of the 150 people who died in the Germanwings plane crash have been left fuming after a paperwork glitch delayed the sending home of the victims’ bodies.
Prosecutors believe co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately ploughed the jet into an Alps mountainside
Scheduled funerals for some of the those on board the stricken jet have been cancelled after bungling officials failed to secure the correct paperwork.
The remains were due to be flown from Marseille, France, to Dusseldorf on June 9 and 10.
But now, plans to repatriate the remains of those killed in the crash of Flight 9525 have been put on hold because of errors on death certificates.
We know how important this is to the relatives and we will try to find a solution as soon as possible
No new date has been set for the return of the bodies to Germany, officials said.
About half of the 150 people killed were German.
According to the lawyer whose clients include relatives of 16 German students who died coming back from an exchange trip to Spain, “anger and despair are growing”.
A Germanwings spokesman said the delay - which also affects the repatriation of victims from other countries - was caused after errors in the official death certificates left them invalid.
He said: "We know how important this is to the relatives and we will try to find a solution as soon as possible.”
Lubitz killed himself and 149 passengers and crew after he locked the pilot out of the cockpit and smashed the A320 plane into the ground on March 24.
Flight 9525 was heading for Dusseldorf from Barcelona when it crashed, with the black box recording later proving that the jet was deliberately downed.