Germanwings Plane Crashes in French Alps

[annaj26]

France crash: Germanwings plane obliterated, data recorder found


2:15 p.m. ET: A Dutch citizen and a Belgian -- the latter a resident of Barcelona -- were among those on the Germanwings flight, according to those countries' foreign ministries.

• 2:15 p.m.: Sixteen students and two teachers from Haltern, Germany, were aboard that plane, said Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann.

• 1:47 p.m.: Haltern's mayor, Bodo Klimpel, said the students and teachers were heading home after taking part in a foreign exchange program.

"The whole city is shocked, and we can feel it everywhere," Klimpel said.

• 1:42 p.m. ET: Speaking from Peru, German President Joachim Gauck said that he woke up "horrified to hear about the terrible plane crash."

"I am deeply saddened, as so many people back in Germany are," Gauck said. "I can only imagine the grief, horror and pain the affected families are going through."

• 1:29 p.m. ET: One of the data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from the crashed Germanwings plane has been found, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday. "This black box will be taken to France's aviation accident investigation bureau this evening, and will be examined in the hours to come," Cazeneuve said. The recorder was found a few hours after the crash and "will immediately be examined to help the judicial investigation move forward quickly," he said.



Full story:

A Germanwings Airbus A320 plane crashed Tuesday in the foothills of the Alps in southeastern France with 150 people on board, obliterating the plane and sending shockwaves through at least three European nations.

Flight 9525 took off just after 10 a.m. Tuesday from Barcelona, Spain, for Dusseldorf, Germany, with 144 passengers -- among them, two babies -- and six crew members on board. It went down at 10:53 a.m. (5:53 a.m. ET) in a remote area near Digne-les-Bains in the Alpes de Haute Provence region.

Helicopter crews found the airliner in pieces, none of them bigger than a small car, and human remains strewn for several hundred meters, according to Gilbert Sauvan, a high-level official in the Alpes de Haute Provence region who is being briefed on the operation.

Authorities may not be able to retrieve any bodies Tuesday, according to Sauvan, with the frozen ground complicating the effort. Wednesday may not be much easier, with snow in the forecast.

Spanish and German officials moved to join hundreds of French firefighters and police in the area, working together to help in the recovery effort and try to figure out exactly what happened. As of Tuesday evening, there were few clues.

map amd video
www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/europe/france-plane-crash/index.html

[josephdphillips]

Oh no, not babies, too.

Yeesh.

[beth]

Mar 24, 2015 13:40:50 GMT -5 josephdphillips said:

Oh no, not babies, too.

Yeesh.

Don't be crass, Joseph. The tragedies we'll always have with us.

[beth]

Mar 24, 2015 13:32:55 GMT -5 annaj26 said:

France crash: Germanwings plane obliterated, data recorder found


2:15 p.m. ET: A Dutch citizen and a Belgian -- the latter a resident of Barcelona -- were among those on the Germanwings flight, according to those countries' foreign ministries.

• 2:15 p.m.: Sixteen students and two teachers from Haltern, Germany, were aboard that plane, said Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann.

• 1:47 p.m.: Haltern's mayor, Bodo Klimpel, said the students and teachers were heading home after taking part in a foreign exchange program.

"The whole city is shocked, and we can feel it everywhere," Klimpel said.

• 1:42 p.m. ET: Speaking from Peru, German President Joachim Gauck said that he woke up "horrified to hear about the terrible plane crash."

"I am deeply saddened, as so many people back in Germany are," Gauck said. "I can only imagine the grief, horror and pain the affected families are going through."

• 1:29 p.m. ET: One of the data recorders, the so-called black boxes, from the crashed Germanwings plane has been found, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Tuesday. "This black box will be taken to France's aviation accident investigation bureau this evening, and will be examined in the hours to come," Cazeneuve said. The recorder was found a few hours after the crash and "will immediately be examined to help the judicial investigation move forward quickly," he said.

At least one black box has been found so they should be able to tell what happened. They said this particular plane was one that was considered especially safe and had recently had a check up.

[kronks]

i was saying they too a stupid route over sea and mountains when they could have flown over land
where they could easilly have landed

[kronks]

Could also be a terror attack.

[Jessiealan]

They said it could have been one of 3 things - loss of pressure, loss of an engine or something hostile.

[kronks]

Could of been a terror attack, or maybe a craxy pilot.

Might also be an iced up sensors perhaps which screws up the auto pilot.

[Jessiealan]

Mar 24, 2015 18:27:05 GMT -5 kronks said:

Could of been a terror attack, or maybe a craxy pilot.

Might also be an iced up sensors perhaps which screws up the auto pilot.

Kronks, I did not mean to cut out on you but lost my connection.

What else I meant to say was that if they had not been over the mountains they could have landed with one engine out because that plane is made to handle that kind of emergency.

I hope they are able to find out soon. Another horrible tragedy.

[markindurham]

Mar 24, 2015 18:16:45 GMT -5 kronks said:

i was saying they too a stupid route over sea and mountains when they could have flown over land
where they could easilly have landed

What? You're being ironic and/or sarcastic, right?

For the avoidance of doubt, not every flight is a straight line between two points. Aircraft follow 'airways' - a series of 'roads in the sky', if you like, between navigation beacons.

[josephdphillips]

Mar 24, 2015 17:07:34 GMT -5 beth said:

The tragedies we'll always have with us.

Precisely my point. Why sensationalize an otherwise pedestrian news story by referencing "babies?"

It's just a plane crash. They happen every day.

[beth]

The shouldn't happen every day or even every month or year. I think an idea of the people on boaard gives credibility to the importance of the crashes that happen far too often. Pay attention. Demand to know why.

Here's a further look at the people.

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-32047560

[josephdphillips]

Mar 25, 2015 10:29:55 GMT -5 beth said:

The shouldn't happen every day or even every month or year. I think an idea of the people on boaard gives credibility to the importance of the crashes that happen far too often. Pay attention. Demand to know why. Here's a further look at the people.

It's still the safest way to travel. The story that's never told is why that is.

The most likely explanation for this particular crash is pilot error.

[beth]

Mar 25, 2015 10:47:21 GMT -5 josephdphillips said:

Mar 25, 2015 10:29:55 GMT -5 beth said:

The shouldn't happen every day or even every month or year. I think an idea of the people on boaard gives credibility to the importance of the crashes that happen far too often. Pay attention. Demand to know why. Here's a further look at the people.

It's still the safest way to travel. The story that's never told is why that is.

The most likely explanation for this particular crash is pilot error.

I know; I know ... but I still hate to fly and don't unless it's necessary. Every time there's a crash, I want to know all the picky little details when it comes to "why".

Just ignore it if you like but let me hang in there until they have solid information.

I hate airports.

[fretslider]

Aviation experts are focusing on the possibility that key sensors on the Germanwings Airbus A320 could have iced up, causing the aircraft to descend rapidly. Other theories being advanced in the immediate aftermath of the crash was that the crew could have been incapacitated by a sudden loss of pressure.

In common with other modern aircraft the Airbus A320 is a “Fly–by-wire” plane. Instead of the aircraft relying on hydraulics, much of the work is carried out by the onboard computer. It is considered safer and also makes the plane lighter, cheaper to operate and reduces the pilot’s workload.

But experts pointed out that a fault in the sensors feeding information to the computer could cause serious problems. Bob Mann, an American aviation consultant, highlighted the angle of attack sensors used on the A320. “If it thinks a plane is about to stall, it will cause the nose to pitch down,” he said. “From the flight radar it looks like a nine minute descent at a constant 400 knots.” The steady path of the plane could indicate that its path was being controlled by computer.

This could also indicate that the crew had lost consciousness, said Nick Brough, an aviation consultant based in Italy. “The aircraft appears to have gone into a decent lasting eight minutes, at a more or less constant velocity, until hitting terrain. “Without intending to speculate, if it is true that the crew made no attempts to make radio contact, they may have been suddenly incapacitated.

“At this stage oxygen starvation cannot be ruled out, as in the Helios Airways accident near Athens in 2005.” “Without oxygen, you lose consciousness very quickly – hence the on board safety announcement that tells you to put the mask on your own face first and only then on babies and children.” James Healy-Pratt a London-based aviation lawyer and qualified pilot believed both theories could be valid.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/11492988/Why-did-Germanwings-Airbus-A320-crash.html