Emotional appeal by father of Yorkshire victim of Alps air crash

Philip Bramley, whose son Paul, 28, was one of the three Britons on board the Dusseldorf-bound Airbus A320 when it crashed in the French Alps, said co-pilot Andreas Lubitz was “ill” and his motivation for bringing it down was “irrelevant”.

Fighting back tears in Digne, close to where the flight came down on Tuesday, Mr Bramley said: “What is relevant, is that it should never happen again; my son and everyone on that plane should not be forgotten, ever. I don’t want it to be forgotten, ever.”

He added: “I believe the airlines should be more transparent and our finest pilots looked after properly. We put our lives and our children’s lives in their hands. I want to see this cloud over this town lifted and the natural beauty be restored and not to be remembered by the action of a single person.”

Paul Bramley, from Hull, died when Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed near Digne-les-Bains en route to Düsseldorf. The 28-year-old was studying hotel management in Lucerne, Switzerland, and had been on holiday with friends in Barcelona. He was flying back to the UK via Germany to meet his family.

A special Mass was held yesterday in the nearby town of Digne-les-Bains to honour the victims and support their families.

Bishop Jean-Philippe Nault led the Mass, attended by about 200 people from the surrounding region, deeply shaken by the crash. It was the deadliest crash on French soil in decades.

Questions continue to be asked about Lubitz’s mental and physical health days after he locked the captain out of the Airbus’ cockpit and bringing down the airliner.

Authorities have already revealed he hid a sick note declaring him unfit to work on the day of the disaster.

German newspaper Bild has reported that he previously told an ex-girlfriend: “One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it.”

Also among the dead were seven-month-old Julian Pracz-Bandres, from Manchester, who was killed with his mother Marina Bandres Lopez Belio, 37, originally from Spain.

Another of the Britons to die was senior quality manager Martyn Matthews, 50, from Wolverhampton, who worked at Tipton in the West Midlands.