The accident crash site is within the Massif des Trois-Évêchés(fr) and is also close to Cimet(fr), where Air France Flight 178 crashed in 1953.
Flight path
Flight 9525 took off from Runway 07R at Barcelona–El Prat Airport at around 10:01 CET (09:01 UTC) and was due to arrive in Düsseldorf Airport by 11:39 CET (10:39 UTC).[2][8]
The French aviation authority DGAC declared the plane in distress after the aircraft's descent and loss of radio contact.[9][10] The aircraft reached its cruise altitude, flight level 380 (approx. 38,000 ft [12,000 m]), three minutes prior to the start of what seems to have been a controlled descent. It crashed between Barcelonnette and Prads-Haute-Bléone, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in the commune of Meolans-Revel.[11][clarification needed] Radar contact was lost at 10:53; at the time, the aircraft was flying at an altitude of about 6,000 ft (1,800 m).[12]
Police and Sécurité Civile sent helicopters to locate the wreckage.[13][14] A picture from the accident site was released, with the report that the aircraft had "disintegrated", the largest piece of wreckage being "the size of a car".[15] According to French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, a helicopter which landed near the site of the crash confirmed that there were no survivors.[16]
Aircraft[edit]
The aircraft involved was an Airbus A320-200, serial number 147, registered as D-AIPX. Its first flight was on 29 November 1990 and it was delivered to Lufthansa on 5 February 1991. It served with Germanwings for the first time in 2003. It was returned to Lufthansa in 2004 and was re-transferred to the relaunched Germanwings on 31 January 2014.[17][18]
Passengers and crew[edit]
People on board by nationality[19]
Nationality No.
Germany 67[20]
Spain 45[20]
Turkey 39[21]
Belgium 1[22]
Netherlands 1[23]
Total 150
It was initially reported that most of the passengers were German, but the Spanish government later reported that there were 45 Spanish and possibly some Turkish citizens on board.[24][25] Germanwings stated that 67 German citizens may have been on the plane,[4] including 16 students and two teachers from the Joseph-König-Gymnasium(de), Haltern, on the way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès.[26]
Initial reports stated there were 146 people on board, but later reports have indicated there were 144 passengers and six crew members, including Turkish, Belgian, German, Dutch and Spanish nationals.[19] A Germanwings representative announced that the captain had 10 years of flying experience (6000 flight hours)[27] with Germanwings and Lufthansa.[25]
Response[edit]
French President François Hollande issued a statement saying: "The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors."[28] He called the crash a tragedy and called for solidarity, he also spoke with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.[6] French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he had dispatched the Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the scene and set-up a ministerial crisis cell to co-ordinate the incident.[6]
King Felipe VI of Spain, who was flying to Paris for a state visit to France at the time of the crash, announced his decision to cut it short and return to Spain. "Following conversations with President Hollande and Mariano Rajoy we have taken the decision to postpone our official visit to France and try and carry it out in the future," he said.[19]
German Chancellor Merkel announced that she would travel to the crash site on Wednesday. She said the incident had plunged Germany, France and Spain into "deep mourning".[29]
Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr announced plans to visit the site of the crash, and called the day of the accident a "dark day for Lufthansa".[11]
The French Aviation Authority has set temporary flight restrictions in the area surrounding the crash site.[30]
[31]
Investigation[edit]
The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) has opened an investigation into the accident, joined by their counterparts from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU). On 24 March, the BEA sent seven investigators to the accident site, accompanied by representatives from Airbus and CFM International.[32]
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve confirmed that one of the black boxes was found by rescue workers.[33][34]
See also[edit]
Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A320 family
Air France Flight 178
Air Inter Flight 148
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Withnall, Adam (24 March 2015). "A320 crashes: Germanwings Flight down in southern France". The Independent. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Un Airbus A320 transportant 148 personnes s'écrase près de Digne-les-Bains". BFMTV. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ 150 feared dead after plane crashes in French Alps. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b "Confirmed by Police". News 24. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "France plane crash: No survivors expected, French President says". CNN. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Germanwings airliner crashes in French Alps". BBC News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings plane crashes in France, up to 150 feared dead". Reuters. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings (4U) #9525 ✈ 24-Mar-2015 ✈ LEBL / BCN - EDDL / DUS". FlightAware. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashes in French Alps with 150 on board - live updates". The Guardian. 'The aircraft did not itself make a distress call but it was the combination of the loss of radio contact and the aircraft’s descent which led the controller to implement the distress phase,' a spokesman for the DGAC authority said.
Jump up ^ "Airbus crash latest coverage". BBC News. Contrary to previous reports, the crew did not send a distress signal, according to AFP. Civil aviation authorities told the agency: 'The crew did not send a Mayday. It was air traffic control that decided to declare the plane was in distress because there was no contact with the crew of the plane.'
^ Jump up to: a b "Germanwings Airbus crashes in French Alps, 150 dead". Reuters. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Germanwings A320 near Barcelonnette on Mar 24th 2015, lost height and impacted terrain". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Plane crashes in French Alps, 150 feared dead". Grand Forks Herald. Reuters. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Live news on Germanwings Airbus crash in France". Reuters. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "BREAKING Crash of an A320 in south of France - more details". Airlive. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "150 killed in French Alps aircrash". Echo. Press Association. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "4U9525 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "D-AIPX Germanwings Airbus A320-211 - cn 147". Planespotters.net.[unreliable source?]
^ Jump up to: a b c "Airbus A320 Crash in France". BBC News. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b "Live: Germanwings crash in Alps". Deutsche Welle. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "39 Turks among victims in Germanwings plane crash: Report". Hürriyet Daily News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ redactie. "Belg onder doden vliegtuigcrash". AD.
Jump up ^ "Zeker één Nederlandse dode bij crash Frankrijk". nos.nl. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings plane crash: Airbus A320 crashes in remote ski area of southern France, 150 feared dead". Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b "Alps plane crash: What we know". BBC News. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings A320 Crash Victims Include 15 German Schoolchildren, Local Media Reports". International Business Times. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Crash: Germanwings A320 near Barcelonnette on Mar 24th 2015, lost height and impacted terrain". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Germanwings Flight Carrying 148 Crashes in Southern France". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Angela Merkel to travel to Germanwings crash site". ITV News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Temporary flight restriction at accident area". Notaminfo.com. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ "Image what shows temporary flight restiction area, accident location and flightpath from flightradar24.".
Jump up ^ "Accident d'un Airbus A 320-211 immatriculé D-AIPX, vol GWI18G, survenu le 24 mars 2015 -- INFORMATION DU 24 MARS 2015" (in French). Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
Jump up ^ http://rt.com/news/243669-germanwings-flight-recorder-found/
Jump up ^ "Germanwings plane black box found as investigators reach crash site". theguardian.com. 24 Mar 2015. Retrieved 24 Mar 2015.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Germanwings Flight 9525.
(German) "Germanwings-A320-Absturz in Südfrankreich" - Der Spiegel
