--- description: The EU warned Germany about lax oversight months before the apparent suicide of a co-pilot flying Germanwings Flight 9525 killed 150 people. title: Germany Cited for Faulty Oversight Ahead of Plane Crash, Report Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Aviation](/tag/aviation/) ## Aviation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Germany Cited for Faulty Oversight Ahead of Plane Crash, Report Says  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2015 2:06 PM CUT  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2015 2:06 PM CUT The European Union warned Germany about its lax aviation oversight months before the apparent suicide of a co-pilot flying Germanwings Flight 9525 killed 150 people last month, according to a report. The _Wall Street Journal_, citing two unnamed sources, reports that EU officials said Germany’s air-safety regulator was understaffed, which could impact its ability to monitor crews, including for medical conditions. The EU formally called on Germany to rectify the problems last November, the _Journal_ reports. Investigators believe that 27-year-old co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashed the plane into the French Alps on March 24. _Read more at the_ [_Wall Street Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-rebuked-germany-for-lax-airline-oversight-1428094581 "undefined") Germanwings Plane Crash: Germany Cited for Faulty Oversight ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/"},"headline":"Germany Cited for Faulty Oversight Ahead of Plane Crash, Report Says","datePublished":"2015-04-04T14:06:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:42:12.575Z","description":"The EU formally called on Germany to improve conditions in November","url":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/","keywords":["Aviation","Suicide","France","Travel","Germany","airplanes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/","name":"Germany Cited for Faulty Oversight Ahead of Plane Crash, Report Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Germanwings Pilot Practiced Plane Crash","description":"A Germanwings plane crashes in the French Alps.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/A0rqqmZ7/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-24T15:57:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/A0rqqmZ7.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/","duration":"PT1M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3771432/germanwings-flight-9525-lax-oversight/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```