Alexander Herzog, a doctoral student at Max Planck Society, pushes 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
 
 Alexander Herzog (L) and Jeannette Bohg, doctoral student and senior research scientist at Max Planck Society respectively, push 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
 
 Alexander Herzog, a doctoral student at Max Planck Society, pushes 'Athena', the first 'humanoid' robot to fly as a passenger, as they arrive at Los Angeles International Airport, California December 15, 2014. 
 
 LOS ANGELES A humanoid robot with a head, hands and feet and wearing stylish red sneakers boarded a flight for Germany at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday, becoming what was billed as the first robot traveling as a paid passenger on an airline. 
 
 The robot, named Athena, created a scene at the Tom Bradley International Terminal as she was pushed in a wheelchair up to the Lufthansa counter to pick up her ticket to Frankfurt. Television crews swarmed, camera flashes went off and people aimed their cell-phone cameras at her, exclaiming: “It’s a robot!” 
 
 Built by the Salt Lake City engineering and robotics company Sarcos, Athena was purchased by Germany’s Max Planck Society, which along with researchers at the University of Southern California are trying to make her perform tasks too dangerous for humans, such as cleanup after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan. 
 
 "We don’t want humans to go there and sacrifice their lives," said Max Planck doctoral student Alexander Herzog, who was pushing Athena through the airport. "I would like to have a robot achieve the same task, such as opening up doors and cleaning up." 
 
 Right now, Athena can do little more than sit and bask in attention. The software to make her legs move and stand is still in the works, though her arms can operate and her mouth glows blue on a white head fitted with cameras and sensors. 
 
 She got an economy ticket but still enjoyed special treatment, including a cut to the front of the ticket line in the first-class lane. 
 
 And while Athena did not have to go through the regular metal detector, the Transportation Security Administration had a special electronic pat-down awaiting, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Suey Castles. “TSA didn’t want us to say what it was,” she said. 
 
 As for the flight, Athena was strapped into a seat like a regular passenger, but was put in the off position, accompanied all the way to her new laboratory home in Germany by Herzog and Jeannette Bohg, senior research scientist at the Max Planck Society. 
 
 Representatives for Lufthansa could not be reached for comment. 
 
 Athena could have been shipped in a big box like any other electronic gear, but the scientists "wanted to see how humans responded to a robot sitting in a plane," said Castles. 
 
 Plus, added Herzog, "It’s cheaper to get a seat." 
 
 (Reporting by Michael Fleeman; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Mohammad Zargham) ||||| In a first, a robot boarded a commercial airline flight at Los Angeles International Airport. Called "Athena," she's clearly a discerning robot — she's flying Lufthansa. 
 
 Athena was accompanied by two scientists who are transporting her to Germany. 
 
 It is not uncommon for travelers with precious cargo to pay for an extra seat to be sure that they can carry it on the plane. Most of that equipment doesn't have a humanoid face, though. 
 
 "Athena" is checking in for her seat aboard @lufthansa on her way to Germany! [PIC]. Have you seen her yet? pic.twitter.com/6pYHiQLC9a — LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 15, 2014 
 
 "Athena" will be accompanied by scientists. A “humanoid” robot has a head, arms, & legs. Photos to come when she arrives at LAX to check-in! — LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 15, 2014 
 
 Athena's ride in the main cabin of the aircraft is not really different from that of a musical instrument or other professional equipment. 
 
 Mary Grady, the managing director at LA World Airports, tweeted photos of Athena going through security. 
 
 "Athena" the Humanoid Robot flys out of LAX. Off To Germany to learn to walk. pic.twitter.com/Ngxgk0jLIB — Mary Grady (@MGradyPIO) December 15, 2014 
 
 This is the first time a robot has flown as a paid passenger on a commercial jet, according to the airport. And if airlines have any say in it, it likely won't be the last. 
 
 Can you think of a better passenger than a robot? 
 
 Robots don't complain about legroom, don't kick the seat in front of them (or find use for a knee defender), and don't find it unconscionable that even a soda can cost $2 aboard some flights. ||||| BERLIN (AP) — Lufthansa knew six years ago that the co-pilot of the passenger plane that crashed in the French Alps last week had suffered from a "serious depressive episode," the German airline said Tuesday. 
 
 Passengers watch candles and flowers for the victims of the plane crash at the airport in Dusseldorf , Germany, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. One week ago 150 people died in the Germanwings airliner crash... (Associated Press) 
 
 Passengers watch candles and flowers for the victims of the plane crash at the airport in Dusseldorf , Germany, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. One week ago 150 people died in the Germanwings airliner crash... (Associated Press) 
 
 Head of criminal research Institute of French Gendarmerie Colonel Francois Daoust, speaks to reporters in Pontoise, outside Paris, France, Monday, March 30, 2015. The process of identifying the victims... (Associated Press) 
 
 A flag from British Aiways sticks in a buquet of flowers for the victims of the plane crash at the airport in Dusseldorf , Germany, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. One week ago 150 people died in the Germanwings... (Associated Press) 
 
 Passengers watch candles and flowers for the victims of the plane crash at the airport in Dusseldorf , Germany, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. One week ago 150 people died in the Germanwings airliner crash... (Associated Press) 
 
 Passengers watch candles and flowers for the victims of the plane crash at the airport in Dusseldorf , Germany, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. One week ago 150 people died in the Germanwings airliner crash... (Associated Press) 
 
 A forensic scientist of the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN), leaves after collecting DNA taken from the body parts of people involved in the crash of Germanwings jetliner,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Forensic scientists of the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN), process DNA taken from the body parts of people involved in the crash of Germanwings jetliner, in Pontoise,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Gendarme Bruno Hermignies stands by a bulldozer clearing a path to the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, Monday, March 30, 2015. European investigators are focusing on the psychological state... (Associated Press) 
 
 The airline said that as part of its internal research it found emails that Andreas Lubitz sent to the Lufthansa flight school in Bremen when he resumed his training there after an interruption of several months. 
 
 In them, he informed the school that 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. It declined to make any further comment. 
 
 The revelation that officials Lufthansa had been informed of Lubitz's psychological problems raises further questions about why he was allowed to become a pilot for its subsidiary, Germanwings, in September 2013. 
 
 Authorities say the 27-year-old Lubitz, who in the past had been treated for suicidal tendencies, locked his captain out of the cockpit before deliberately crashing the Airbus 320 into a mountain in the French Alps on March 24. All 150 people aboard Flight 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf were killed. 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, Lufthansa said it had set aside $300 million to deal with possible costs from the crash as French aviation investigators said they were examining "systemic weaknesses" like cockpit entry rules and psychological screening procedures that could have led to the Germanwings plane crash — issues that could eventually change worldwide aviation practices. 
 
 French aviation agency BEA signaled the latest re-think about airline procedures in the wake of the Germanwings crash, which jolted an aviation industry already reeling after one passenger plane disappeared into an ocean and another was shot out of the sky over war-torn eastern Ukraine. 
 
 The goal of the BEA investigation is to make recommendations to aviation authorities, not just in France but anywhere, about what can be done to prevent similar crashes. French prosecutors are carrying out a separate crash probe to pinpoint possible criminal wrongdoing. 
 
 The Germanwings crash has already produced some changes in aviation procedures. Europe's aviation regulator now says all airlines in Europe should require two people in the cockpit at all times during a flight. Many airlines have already imposed the new rule, which has been in place in the U.S. since the Sept. 11 attacks. 
 
 The International Civil Aviation Organization, which brings together 191 nations, said state agencies like the BEA must officially determine the causes and contributing factors of crashes and give recommendations on ways to avoid recurrences. ICAO could then bring such recommendations to its member states — possibly leading to changes in international aviation standards. 
 
 BEA said it aims to provide a "detailed analysis" of the Germanwings cockpit voice recorder and any other flight data — but it also plans to widen its search, to examine issues that could be problematic for all airlines. 
 
 "(We will study) systemic weaknesses (that) might possibly have led to this aviation disaster," BEA said in its first statement since prosecutors detailed the co-pilot's suspected role in the crash. 
 
 The agency is studying both psychological screening procedures and rules applied to entering and leaving the cockpit, as well as cockpit door locking systems. 
 
 German prosecutors say Lubitz received psychotherapy before obtaining his pilot's license and that medical records from that time referred to "suicidal tendencies." They have given no dates for his treatment, but said visits to doctors since then showed no record of any suicidal tendencies or aggression against others. 
 
 They also have found torn-up sick notes from doctors, including one that would have kept Lubitz off work on the day of the crash. 
 
 At the crash site in the French Alps, investigators said they hope to have found DNA samples for everyone killed on the flight in the next 24 hours. Lt. Col. Jean-Marc Menichini, speaking in the town of Le Vernet, said the search was still on for the plane's second black box — its data recorder. 
 
 "By the end of the week at the latest, it will be possible to identify all the victims thanks to the DNA samples taken," French President Francois Hollande told reporters during a trip to Germany. 
 
 Hollande said German and French ministers also discussed the need to improve checks of air passengers within Europe's visa-free Schengen travel zone and to "ensure that we can also strengthen our safety rules for piloting planes." 
 
 Construction workers have cut a road up to the steep, mountainous crash site to speed up recovery efforts. Previously, emergency workers had to rely on helicopters. German investigators tasked with identifying the victims and determining their cause of death are expected Wednesday at the crash site. 
 
 In Frankfurt, Lufthansa spokeswoman Kerstin Lau said insurers have reserved $300 million to deal with "all costs arising in connection with the case." 
 
 Lufthansa — Germanwings' parent company — offered immediate aid last week of up to 50,000 euros ($54,250) per passenger to relatives of the victims. Those payments are separate from eventual compensation payments. 
 
 Airlines on international flights are required to compensate relatives of victims for proven damages of up to a limit of about $157,000 — regardless of what caused the crash. However, higher compensation is possible if a carrier is held liable. 
 
 Lufthansa has canceled plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary on April 15 "out of respect for the victims of the crash." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Moulson reported from Berlin. Lori Hinnant in Le Vernet, France contributed to this report.
– No danger of this passenger experiencing an episode of nut rage: In what Los Angeles International Airport says is an aviation first, a robot traveled as a paying passenger on Monday, sitting in an economy-class seat of its own on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, Germany, Reuters reports. "Athena," a US-made humanoid robot, was pushed through the airport in a wheelchair by two German researchers who plan to teach it to walk—and, eventually, to perform dangerous tasks like the nuclear cleanup at Fukushima. For now, she can't do much more than move her arms. An airport spokeswoman says the red-sneaker-clad Athena could have made the overseas voyage in a box, but the scientists "wanted to see how humans responded to a robot sitting in a plane." It is fairly common for people with precious cargo to buy a plane seat for it, but "most of that equipment doesn't have a humanoid face," Mashable notes. It doesn't always get special perks, either: Athena didn't have to submit to the metal detector (she got a special pat-down) and got to cut to the front of the boarding line—the first-class one at that.