Australia has joined other major nations that have recently announced they will require their airlines to have two people in the cockpit of commercial flights at all times.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said on Monday that the rules will apply to all domestic and international services operated by Australian carriers, on airplanes with more than 50 seats.

Also on Monday, German prosecutors in Duesseldorf said the co-pilot of the Germanwings jetliner that crashed into the French Alps last week had received treatment for suicidal tendencies several years ago.