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PARIS (AP) —
France's leading pilots union said Friday it is filing a lawsuit over leaks about the investigation into the crash of a German jet into the French Alps.
Pilots around Europe are angry that information about the final moments of the flight was reported in the media before prosecutors and others were informed. Pilots are concerned that the circumstances of Tuesday's crash will damage public trust.
After leaks in the media about the crash, a prosecutor announced that cockpit recordings indicate the co-pilot of the Germanwings A320 jet intentionally flew the plane into a mountain. All 150 aboard were killed.
Guillaume Schmid of France's SNPL union told The Associated Press on Friday that the lawsuit is over violating a French law on keeping information about investigations secret while they are ongoing. The lawsuit doesn't name an alleged perpetrator, a method in French law that leaves investigators to determine who is at fault.
"We can understand there is a certain pressure, a wish to know," Schmid said — but he warned that leaking information too early can mislead the public instead of informing accurately.
The French air accident investigation agency, the BEA, "will never be able to satisfy the demand for immediate information. ... It is designed to resist that," and instead is meant to focus on "establishing irrefutable facts," he said.
European Cockpit Association also expressed concern about the leaks and urged further investigation before drawing final conclusions.
The idea that the crash was deliberate is "shocking," it said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. As trusted professionals, who invest a lifelong career in making air travel safe, this is a very difficult day for us."
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, KRISTIN J. BENDER, and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press
A lawyer disputes police claims that the kidnapping of a California woman was a hoax and says her boyfriend was bound and drugged during the abduction.
Attorney Dan Russo says his client Aaron Quinn did not immediately call police when his girlfriend Denise Huskins was abducted early Monday because at least two kidnappers "forced him to drink something" they said was a drug.
Investigators said they were suspicious when Quinn took hours to report that strangers broke into his home and abducted Huskins for an $8,500 ransom. Police could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Huskins turned up safe in Huntington Beach, California, on Wednesday, the same day police revealed they had no proof of a kidnapping and believe it was a hoax.
After the investigation turned to the couple, police said they weren't able to contact either Huskins or her family members by Wednesday's end and do not know where she is now. Police questioned Quinn for 17 hours, Russo said.
Huskins had indicated she would talk to detectives, and the FBI had arranged to have her flown back to Northern California, police said. She hired an attorney, but the lawyer's name was not released.
Jeff Kane, Huskins' uncle, disputed that the family was avoiding calls from police. He said that because he's a lawyer he has an ethical obligation to not reveal any discussion with Huskins.
Mike Huskins said his daughter called him to say she had been dropped off at her mother's Huntington Beach house. No one was there, so she said she walked the 12 blocks to his home, but he had traveled to Northern California to help with the search.
"She wasn't crying at all. She just said, `Daddy, I'm OK,' " an emotional Mike Huskins told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "I feel very relieved. Can you imagine? You can't unless you've experienced it."
Quinn had told police that Denise Huskins was taken forcefully from their Mare Island home in Vallejo early Monday. He called police around 2 p.m. to report she had been abducted.
LONDON (AP) --
Airlines and officials around the world on Thursday began requiring two crew members to always be present in the cockpit, after details emerged that the co-pilot of Germanwings Flight 9525 had apparently locked himself in the cockpit and deliberated crashed the plane into the mountains below.
Leading European budget airlines Norwegian Air Shuttle and EasyJet, along with Air Canada, say they will now require a minimum of two crew members in the cockpit while a plane is in the air.
A group representing Germany's biggest airlines, including Lufthansa and Air Berlin, say they plan similar rules. German Aviation Association spokeswoman Christine Kolmar said the plan will be presented to German aviation authorities on Friday and the airlines will implement it "as soon as possible."
Canada's government also issued an immediate order requiring two crew members to be in the flight deck at all times. Transport Minister Lisa Raitt said the government is reviewing all policies and procedures and is watching the situation in Europe closely.
Following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. airlines revamped their policies regarding staffing in the cockpit. But the procedure is not standard in Europe or Canada.