Passenger Plane Crashes in French Alps, 150 Feared Dead, Black Box Found
PARIS, March 24 (UPI) — An Airbus A320 plane flight 4U 9525 carrying up to 150 people, operated by Lufthansa-owned company Germanwings, crashed in the French Alps in southern France on Tuesday. The plane was flying between Düsseldorf, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain.
One of the black boxes has been found, according to French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.The airplane was decimated, with no pieces of debris larger than a small car, according to the president of Alpes de Haute Provence region, Gilbert Sauvan. Human remains have been found for several hundred feet all over the crash site.
The ground is frozen and helicopters are not able to land, making retrieval of bodies difficult. Continued snow is forecast for Wednesday.
French President Francois Hollande said the crash was a tragedy and called for solidarity with victims. “The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors,” Hollande said.
Hollande contacted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to express his sympathy. Search-and-rescue teams are undergoing operations.The cause of the crash is unknown, according to French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
Germanwings verified media reports of the crash on it’s website.
“We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf has suffered an accident over the French Alps. The flight was being operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, and was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members.
“Lufthansa and Germanwings have established a telephone hotline. The numbers 0800 014 8904 (UK) and +1 407 362 0632 (worldwide) are available to all the families of the passengers involved for care and assistance.
“Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members.Germanwings is conducting a full investigation.”
The crashed airplane is about 24 years old and has been with Lufthansa since 1991. Lufthansa also released a statement.
“We still don’t know exactly what happened to flight 4U 9525. Our thoughts are now with all relatives and friends of our passengers and crews. We will do everything as quickly as possible to make more information available.”
