Airbus A320 crashes in France - Germanwings flight with 150 onboard

[Maestro]

Germanwings plans to hold a press conference at about 3 p.m. in Cologne to provide an update. At Dusseldorf airport, where the plane was due to land shortly before noon, local crisis-response teams were on standby to assist relatives.

“As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately,” the airline said.

Source: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558654-airbus-a320-crashed-southern-france-5.html#post8914043

[Lite Beer]

RT @SkyNewsBreak: French President Francois Hollande says it could take hours for emergency services to reach remote site where #Germanwings flight crashed

[Maestro]

Declared an emergency~ think I read that in there...why?

The paper's news ticker did not say for what reason the emergency was declared.

Guess we'll find out in time. Terrible news obviously.

Got some additional information on it:

squawk was just "Emergency Emergency"

Source: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558654-airbus-a320-crashed-southern-france-5.html#post8914086

[Lite Beer]

RT @AP: The Latest: The A320 family has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs: http://apne.ws/1bq6ySs

[Lite Beer]

RT @AP: The Latest: Witness says he heard a series of long noises before passenger plane crashed in the Alps: http://apne.ws/1xuBFGP

[Lite Beer]

RT @airlivenet: BREAKING Emergency units staging in Seyne-les-Alpes, near #4U9525 crash site /@Aviaponcho http://www.airlive.net/2015/03/breaking-crash-of-a320-in-south-of.html http://twitter.com/News_Executive/status/580350490107621376/photo/1

[Maestro]

Tere was NO distress call apparently. There has been talking about a DETRESFA launched by ATC.

Source: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558654-airbus-a320-crashed-southern-france-6.html#post8914130

[Maestro]

An Air France pilot flying over the area told France's BFM-TV that the German A-320 crew did not apprently declare an emergency to controllers. The "distress call" came from them setting the transponder to 7700

Source: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558654-airbus-a320-crashed-southern-france-7.html#post8914153

[NeverSure]

Got some additional information on it:

squawk was just "Emergency Emergency"

Source: http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558654-airbus-a320-crashed-southern-france-5.html#post8914086

That's confusing. Disagreement there over whether it radioed emergency, or squawked emergency. Squawk would be tuning the transponder to the emergency frequency which Center would pick up as opposed to actually saying "emergency" on the radio. There could be a difference in what information was received.

This is odd. It squawked an emergency, flew at an abnormally low altitude over real mountains for some time, and then scattered over a 2 km area from reading above. A plane with mechanical failure which simply augers in doesn't scatter that far.

Oops. Missed the post above about squawking. This is tuning the transponder to the emergency frequency which will pop up on ATC's screens.

[Lissos]

Until a terror attack is officially ruled out, it can't be ruled out. Nightmare for family members. Not sure I could handle it, if my family members died this way.

[Lite Beer]

RT @airlivenet: BREAKING -4C on the #Germanwings crash site. Snow and wind expected in few mins. http://www.airlive.net/2015/03/breaking-crash-of-a320-in-south-of.html http://twitter.com/airlivenet/status/580359057825009664/photo/1

[Lite Beer]

RT @BBCBreaking: German chancellor Angela Merkel to travel to #Germanwings crash site http://bbc.in/1LSgxjV http://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/580363366918701056/photo/1

[Lite Beer]

RT @MashableNews: A French Air Force C-135 is seen on radar circling over the general area where #4U9525 was lost. http://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer/status/580362699357466625/photo/1 (Pic: @AirlineFlyer)

[JockPieandBeans]

This is on the sky news ticker

Anthony Davis, aviation journalist, told Sky News: “The log suggests (the plane) went straight down at a significant rate, up to 5,000 feet per minute at one point, which suggests it happened in a matter of seconds.

“It is unlikely the passengers on board would have known anything about this.

http://news.sky.com/story/1451555/live-passenger-plane-crashes-in-french-alps

Straight down at up to 5000 feet per minute.

<deleted> would cause that ?

Terrible news.

[Maestro]

Photo of the actual aeroplane that crashed, taken at Milano-Malpensa airport in September 2014:

Photo source: http://www.planespotters.net/Aviation_Photos/photo.show?id=522351

[george]

The Latest: Merkel to travel to site of plane crash
The Associated Press


2:50 p.m. (1350 GMT, 9:50 a.m. EDT)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will head to the remote mountain in the French Alps where a Germanwings passenger plane crashed with 150 people aboard.

She says her thoughts are "with those people who so suddenly lost their lives, among them many compatriots."

Merkel says she will travel to the region on Wednesday, a day after her foreign and transport ministers were heading to the crash site.

She is urging people not to speculate on the cause of the crash until an investigation can be conducted.

No survivors are expected in the crash of the plane, which was traveling Tuesday morning from Barcelona, Spain, to Duesseldorf, Germany.

___

2:05 p.m. (1305 GMT, 9:05 a.m. EDT)

The owner of a French Alpine camping ground says he heard a series of loud noises in the air before a Germanwings passenger plane carrying 150 people crashed to the ground.

Pierre Polizzi told The Associated Press the noise began at 11:30 a.m.

"There are often fighter jets flying over, so I thought it sounded just like that. I looked outside but I couldn't see any fighter planes."

"The noise I heard was long - like 8 seconds - as if the plane was going more slowly than a military plane speed. There was another long noise about 30 seconds later."

No survivors are expected in the crash of the plane that was traveling from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, Germany.

Polizzi said it would be difficult to get to the site of the crash. "The mountain is snowy and very hostile."

___

1:45 p.m. . (1245 GMT, 8:45 EDT)

Spanish King Felipe has canceled his state visit to France following the crash of a plane in the southern French Alps.

The plane was flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf in Germany, and Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria told reporters in Seville that there were 45 people aboard the plane with Spanish last names but that authorities have not confirmed how many of them were Spanish.

Felipe met with French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday morning before ending his visit.

Airline Germanwings says there were 150 people on board the Airbus 320. Hollande has said no survivors are expected to be found.

___

1:40 p.m. (1240 GMT, 8:40 a.m. EDT)

Airline Germanwings says there were 144 passengers and six crew aboard a plane that crashed in the French Alps.

Manager Oliver Wagner did not say whether there were any survivors and added it was not currently possible to give more information on how the crash occurred. "I promise that we will do everything to clear up the events thoroughly," he said. "We are endlessly sorry for what has happened."

Other officials have given slightly differing figures for the number on board.

The Airbus 320 crashed Tuesday morning during a flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, Germany. French President Francois Hollande has said no survivors are expected.

The Germanwings logo, normally maroon and yellow, was blacked out on its Twitter feed.

___

1:25 p.m. (1225 GMT, 8:25 a.m. EDT)

The Airbus 320 plane that went down in the French Alps is a workhorse of modern aviation. Similar to the Boeing 737, the single-aisle, twin-engine jet is used to connect cities that are between one and five hours apart. Worldwide, 3,606 A320s are in operation, according to Airbus, which also makes the smaller but near-identical A318 and A319 and the stretched A321. An additional 2,486 of those jets are flying.

The Germanwings A320 crashed Tuesday crashed in the south of the Alps while flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf in Germany. No survivors are expected.

The A320 family has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a Boeing safety analysis.

___

1:10 p.m. (1210 GMT, 8:10 a.m. EDT)

The CEO of Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, says he doesn't yet have any information about what happened to its flight from Barcelona to Duesseldorf that French officials say has crashed in the Alps.

"My deepest sympathy is with all the relatives and friends of our passengers and crew on 4U 9525," Carsten Spohr was cited in a tweet by Lufthansa as saying. "If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."

Antonio San Jose, spokesman for Spanish airport authority AENA, told the Onda Cero radio station that authorities do not yet know how many Spaniards were on the jet but that the authority's best information is that 147 people were aboard the plane.

"It would be a miracle if there were survivors but hopefully there will be. We do not know the causes, simply that it lost contact," San Jose said.

___

1 p.m. (1200 GMT, 8 a.m. EDT)

French President Francois Hollande has spoken briefly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to express solidarity following the crash of a Germanwings plane in southern France.

The German ambassador is leaving imminently with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve for the area of the crash.

The Airbus A320 crashed in the south of the Alps while flying from Barcelona to Duesseldorf in Germany. Holland says no survivors are expected.

Spanish King Felipe and his wife are in France on a previously scheduled visit and are currently meeting Hollande.

___

12:40 p.m. (1140 GMT, 7:40 a.m. EDT)

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet says debris from the crash of an Airbus A320 has been located and the plane crashed at 2,000 meters altitude in the Alps.

Brandet told BFM television that he expected "an extremely long and extremely difficult" search and rescue operation because of the area's remoteness.

The airplane sent out a distress signal at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Brandet said.

He said the passenger manifest is being verified.

___

12:30 p.m. (1130 GMT, 7:30 a.m. EDT)

French President Francois Hollande says no survivors are likely in the Alpine crash of a passenger jet carrying 148 people.

The Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed Tuesday in the French Alps region as it traveled from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, French officials said. Eric Ciotti, the head of the regional council, said search-and-rescue teams were headed to the crash site at Meolans-Revels.

In a live briefing Tuesday, Hollande said the area of the crash was remote and it was not clear whether anyone on the ground had been hurt. Hollande said it was probable that a number of the victims are German.

"It's a tragedy on our soil," he said, adding he would be speaking shortly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The French newspaper La Provence, citing aviation officials, said the Airbus plane carried at least 142 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants.

[ap]2015-03-24[/a]

[Tywais]

[NeverSure]

Until a terror attack is officially ruled out, it can't be ruled out. Nightmare for family members. Not sure I could handle it, if my family members died this way.

I never trust breaking news to be accurate, but if what we're told it true it doesn't add up.

It squawked an emergency for a long time by changing transponder frequencies, but didn't seem to radio the actual problem. Center would have been trying to make radio contact due to the squawk. If there was none, the pilots may have been denied access to talk on the radio. Changing frequencies is SOP in a hijack because it might not be understood what the pilot was doing.

It flew way too low for a long time, again something real pilots shouldn't do especially over mountains.

It flew long enough after squawking emergency to make one wonder if it couldn't keep flying.

The wreckage is said to be scattered over a 2 km area, something which suggests in-flight breakup.

This is all IF these reports are correct and is only making me wonder. We still don't know what happened.

[Maestro]

Watching the live stream of the press conference in Cologne.

-- Experienced pilot, over 10 years with Lufthansa group, over 6,000 hours flying Airbus.

-- No clear information about emergency message or signal.

-- No details yet why the plane started descent without prior communication with control tower.

-- Take-off in Barcelona at 10:01, attained cruising altitude of 38,000 feet at 10:45, started descending one minute later.

Press conference has ended.

[Lite Beer]

RT @andylines: Two babies were onboard as well as the party of schoolchildren. Very sad news. #Germanwings

[Lite Beer]

RT @mashable: Crashed #Germanwings plane took eight minutes to descend from 38,000 feet, official says http://on.mash.to/1ENd7Ix http://twitter.com/mashable/status/580372619737899008/photo/1

[NeverSure]

RT @mashable: Crashed #Germanwings plane took eight minutes to descend from 38,000 feet, official says http://on.mash.to/1ENd7Ix http://twitter.com/mashable/status/580372619737899008/photo/1

That's a powered descent that's far less of a descent rate than if engines were out. It also flew a long time. It's a head scratcher especially as experienced as the pilot was, and especially without radioing for permission or to state a problem.

[Lissos]

We still don't know what happened.

Yep. Being overland, eventually we should be able to find out, unlike the cases over oceans.

Merkel asking people not to speculate was a bit silly of her. Speculation is going to happen.

[Lite Beer]

RT @cnni: BREAKING: Distress call linked with #Germanwings jet came from air traffic control, not plane -- aviation official. http://cnn.it/1CUngpk

[NeverSure]

RT @cnni: BREAKING: Distress call linked with #Germanwings jet came from air traffic control, not plane -- aviation official. http://cnn.it/1CUngpk

Perhaps ATC knew of the emergency due to the transponder squawking the emergency channel, but the pilots didn't make radio contact. If true it's really odd considering how much time lapsed and at the very least a pilot would announce his descent due to other traffic.

Also since this may have occurred almost at the beginning of the flight, it seems like a pilot would have turned back if he could. It's a puzzle that a real pilot would go ahead and try to cross the Alps.

[balo]

This is on the sky news ticker

Anthony Davis, aviation journalist, told Sky News: “The log suggests (the plane) went straight down at a significant rate, up to 5,000 feet per minute at one point, which suggests it happened in a matter of seconds.

“It is unlikely the passengers on board would have known anything about this.

http://news.sky.com/story/1451555/live-passenger-plane-crashes-in-french-alps

Straight down at up to 5000 feet per minute.

<deleted> would cause that ?

Terrible news.

Maybe it hit something in the air and a part of the tale or wing fell off? This sounds like a very unusual accident. And the pilots did not have time to contact ATC.

Only speculations but we can not rule out terror.

[Anthony5]

The fact that it took 8 minutes to descend, and the pilot didn't make vocal radio contact during that time, speaks volumes in my opinion.

[NeverSure]

Maybe it hit something in the air and a part of the tale or wing fell off? This sounds like a very unusual accident. And the pilots did not have time to contact ATC.

Only speculations but we can not rule out terror.

It kept flying for a very long time and distance after it squawked an emergency. I don't think the plane broke up at the beginning.

Nothing that we hear so far sounds like anything that a real pilot would do.

[Maestro]

A man from Vernet, the nearest town to the crash zone, is quoted as saying "I drove a dozen police officers to near the crash area, on the col de Mariaud [here on Google Maps], near the crash site. From up there, I could see the debris. I have no doubt that the plane hit the cliff"

Source, in French:

-- La Provence 2015-03-24

[balo]

Maybe it hit something in the air and a part of the tale or wing fell off? This sounds like a very unusual accident. And the pilots did not have time to contact ATC.

Only speculations but we can not rule out terror.

It kept flying for a very long time and distance after it squawked an emergency. I don't think the plane broke up at the beginning.

Nothing that we hear so far sounds like anything that a real pilot would do.

I'm afraid your right. Unless the pilots were unconscious caused by lack of oxygen , there was plenty of time to contact the ground. I fear the worst that this could be a terrorist attack.