An Airbus A320 with 150 people on board belonging to the German airline Germanwings crashed today in an inaccessible area in the southern French Alps, and the hopes of finding survivors were slim. The aircraft covered the route between Barcelona (Spain) and Dusseldorf (Germany), and carrying 144 passengers and six crew members.
The plane crashed between Digne and Barcelonnette, in a steep valley massif Blanche, away from any road or place inhabited. One of the black boxes was found and was forwarded to an office of research and analysis.
The crash, the worst in France for the past 40 years, coincided with the start of a state visit to the Felipe and Letizia kings to Paris. The visit was canceled by the monarchs to know the tragedy.
“At the moment there is no indication that anyone could survive this accident,” said Gen. David Galtier, who heads the region gendarmerie Provence -alpes-Costa Azul. The French Interior Minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, also stated that “there is little hope that there are survivors.”
Among the victims “there is a very high number of Spaniards, Germans and Turks”, confirmed King Philip VI of Spain, announcing the suspension of his visit after meeting at the Elysee Palace with French President François Hollande.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy announced traveling to the place of tragedy, where search efforts had to be interrupted by nightfall.
In the area are deployed “exceptional research facilities and assistance, including 300 firefighters and 300 gendarmes and “Ten helicopters and military aircraft,” Cazeneuve said.
According Germanwings, 67 Germans traveling on the plane, including two babies and 16 German teenagers along with two teachers returning home after a school exchange students from Spanish secondary. The first families of the victims Spanish arrived, shocked, at Barcelona airport for news about their loved ones.
It is not known what caused the accident
The board of French Civil Aviation (DGCA) had declared an emergency to the 09H30 GMT when flying over the town of Barcelonnette after losing contact with the plane.
The plane crash lasted 8 minutes as Germanwings, a low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa. The weather conditions were particularly bad at the time of the accident.
The crew did not issue distress signals, according to the FAA. The pilot had “more than ten years’ experience and” more than 6,000 flight hours, “according to the German company.
The rugged A320, which had been delivered to Lufthansa” in 1991, “had been undergone a major revision in “the summer of 2013,” said Thomas Winkelmann, a director of the company in Cologne (West Germany).
“At this point we say that this is an accident, any else would be speculation, “said Vice President for Europe of the Lufthansa Group, Heike Birlenbach, at a press conference at the airport in Barcelona. A witness who was skiing near the crash site, told a French television that he had “heard a huge noise.”
“We do not know the reasons for the accident (…) We do possible to travel to the scene, understand what happened and to accommodate families of victims in the best conditions, “said French Prime Minister of Catalan origin, Manuel Valls, who also suspended for 24 hours participation in the campaign for departmental elections on Sunday.
The Airbus group also claimed not “have any information” until the circumstances of the accident. The Airbus A320 has the capacity to transport between 150 and 180 people.
“It’s heartbreaking because apparently means the loss of many children,” meanwhile US President, Barack Obama, who sent his condolences to the German and Spanish governments. Spain observe three days of mourning because of the tragedy.
This is the first air disaster that is recorded in France since a Concorde crashed on takeoff from Roissy, the July 15, 2000 leaving 113 dead. It is also the deadliest air disaster since 1974 when a plane of Turkish Airlines in northern Paris with a balance of 346 dead crashed.
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