Germanwings' owner Lufthansa knew six years ago that killer co-pilot Andreas Lubitz had suffered a "serious depressive episode", it said tonight.
It follows yesterday's revelation he had been treated for suicidal tendencies.
All 150 people on board the Airbus 320 flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, including three Britons, were killed in a crash last week caused by Lubitz deliberately crashing the plane in the French Alps.
Lufthansa said as part of its internal research it found e-mails Andreas Lubitz had sent to its flight school in Bremen when he resumed his training there after an interruption of several months.
In them, he told the school he had suffered a "serious depressive episode", which had since subsided.
The airline said Lubitz subsequently passed all medical checks and that it has provided the documents to prosecutors.
French Alps air disaster - in pictures
The development came as it emerged all the victims could be identified by the end of the week. At a news conference in Berlin, French president Francois Hollande said: "The French interior minister confirmed that by the end of the week at the latest it will be possible to identify all of the victims thanks to DNA samples."
Lufthansa said its insurers were setting aside $300million (£203m) to deal with possible costs resulting from the crash.
Out of respect for the victims, it added, it has also cancelled its 60th anniversary celebrations, due to have taken place on April 15.
Following the crash, France's air accident investigation agency the BEA is now examining airlines' psychological screening procedures and protocols for how pilots can get into the cockpit.
The BEA said its investigation was aiming to provide a "detailed analysis" of flight data. It also said it would be studying "systemic weaknesses" that could have led to the crash.
The Britons who died in last Tuesday's crash were Paul Bramley, 28, originally from Hull, Martyn Matthews, 50, from Wolverhampton, and seven-month-old Julian Pracz-Bandres, from Manchester, who died alongside his mother, Marina Bandres Lopez Belio, 37, originally from Spain.
Additional reporting by PA
