See Photos of Germwanwings Plane Crash
Following the deadly crash of Germanwings flight 4U9525 in the French Alps on Tuesday that killed 150 people, several crew members of the low-cost carrier owned by Lufthansa refused to fly, forcing the cancellation of several flights.
The Germanwings crew members did not operate flights for 'personal reasons', claiming that they were 'unfit'.
Some reports also suggested that the crew chose not to board the planes out of fear that the Germanwings A320 crashed right after undergoing repair works on Monday.
Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr acknowledged the crew members' concerns and promised 'psychological assistance', according The Associated Press.
"One must not forget: many of our Germanwings crews have known crew members who were onboard the crashed plane. It is now more important to ensure psychological assistance if needed. And we will get back to a full flight operation as soon as possible then. But for me, this is rather secondary now," the Lufthansa chief said.
The doomed aircraft was grounded on Monday for repairs to its nose-wheel landing doors, which officials said was to 'fix a noise'.
"The repair was purely to fix a noise that the door was making, and the aircraft was flying again from 10am on Monday," Germanwings spokesperson reportedly said.
The spokesperson denied claims that the pilots refusal to fly planes was linked to the repairs, and said it was only based on 'personal reasons'.
