In very sad news coming out of France this morning, it has been reported that Germanwings Airbus A320 Flight 4U9525 has crashed in southern France Tuesday, March 24th. The plane was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, losing contact with air traffic controllers aproximately 40 minutes after takeoff at 10:40 a.m. The plane descended rapidly while flying over the town of Barcelonette in the Alpes de Haute-Provence region and the wreckage, located by French military helicopter, was found near the town of Prads-Haute-Bleone.
Germanwings is a subsidiary of Lufthansa, which sent out the following two Tweets shortly after learning of the accident:
French news reports stated that if the deaths are confirmed, this will be the deadliest crash in France in 30 years. French President Francois Hollande said it is likely that there were no survivors. Recovery operations are underway in the difficult-to-access mountainous terrain.
To keep up with the live updates as this story develops, click here to be taken to The Guardian.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of this devastating tragedy.
Update (March 26, 2015; 2:15 p.m.) – In even further troubling news of this incredible tragedy, French officials have confirmed that the 27-year-old co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally crashed the plane after locking the commanding pilot out of the cockpit and refusing him re-entry after several requests. The co-pilot can be heard breathing until the moment of impact. Sadly, it is unclear and baffling to all officials as to why Lubitz would do this as he had no prior criminal or terrorist history. To read more details about this story, click here.
