News reports on accusations that Andreas Lubitz, the Germanwings co-pilot, purposely brought down Flight 9525 over the French Alps have rushed to convict him.
"Andreas Lubitz (27), the Amok Pilot," ran a banner headline in Bild, Germany's most popular tabloid. "Killer in the Cockpit," screamed London's Daily Mail. But The Independent went it one better: "Mass Murder from the Cockpit." Other tabloids offered more in that vein: "madman," "jilted pilot," "why on earth was he allowed to fly?"
All because Marseilles prosecutor Brice Robin saw fit to announce that the co-pilot "wanted to destroy the aircraft." The evidence that led him to that conclusion came from the plane's cockpit audio recorder.