By Hajer M'tiri & Ayhan Simsek
BERLIN / PARIS
Nearly 150 people are feared dead after an Airbus A320 plane flown by the low-budget airline Germanwings crashed in southern France.
A total of 144 passengers and six crew were aboard flight number 4U 9525, Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said, when the 24-year-old aircraft went down in the French Alps Tuesday.
The aircraft disappeared from radar screens at about 11:00 local time as it headed from the Spanish city of Barcelona to Dusseldorf in Germany, according to aviation officials.
Two babies and 67 German citizens were among the passengers, Winkelmann told journalists at a press conference in the German city of Cologne.
He confirmed that 16 students and two teachers from the German city of Haltern were among the victims.
Winkelmann declined to give information on the nationalities of other victims, stressing that they were trying to contact families first, and would inform the media after confirming the exact names and nationalities.
Turkish, German and Spanish nationals were among the passengers, King Felipe VI of Spain said in Paris during a state visit to France. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said at a press conference in Spain that 45 victims were Spanish.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Ankara that according to initial reports, a Turkish-origin woman, Muradiye Lohmann was among the victims. He also said that another passenger named Yasmin could possibly be a Turkish citizen, but it was not confirmed yet.
German authorities have set up a crisis desk at the Dusseldorf Airport to provide information and support to families and friends of the passengers.
Chances of survival look slim
French President Francois Hollande said: "The conditions of the accident suggest that there are no survivors."
“The crash area is a horror. The aircraft is totally destroyed. Sadness,” tweeted French Member of Parliament Christophe Castaner, who was in the helicopter with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazenenve over the crash site.
“Terrible scenes in this mountain landscape. There is nothing left but debris and bodies,” Castaner wrote.
At the crash site, Cazeneuve told reporters: “The strength of the crash leaves little hope that anyone is still alive."
According to the French justice ministry, the Marseille prosecutor has launched a probe into the incident to determine the reasons behind the crash.
Cause of crash unknown
The Germanwings CEO told journalists that the aircraft crashed at 10:53 local time, 52 minutes after its departure from the Spanish city of Barcelona to Dusseldorf in Germany.
“According to the information we have for the time being, the aircraft reached to its regular cruising altitude at 10:45 and after a minute it has entered into a descent, which continued for eight minutes,” Winkelmann said.
He stressed that the aircraft went through routine checks last Monday in Dusseldorf, by its sister company Lufthansa. He also underlined that the pilot of the aircraft had an experience of at least 6,000 flight hours with Airbus models, and was working for Germanwings and its sister company for 10 years.
He promised a full investigation to reveal the cause of the plane crash and said a team of experts from the airline, Lufthansa and Airbus had been sent to France.
Spiegel claims technical problem
German weekly Der Spiegel claimed on its web page Tuesday that the crashed aircraft had already experienced a technical problem on “Nose Landing Door” Monday and had to remain on ground for long hours.
A Lufthansa spokesman was quoted by the weekly confirming the problem. “But that problem was fully resolved and the aircraft started its regular flights yesterday (Monday) at 10 o’clock in the morning,” he said.
On Tuesday, scores of Germanwings flights were cancelled, and Der Spiegel claimed that it was because of a protest by pilots. But the company dismissed the claim and said that some pilots could not work Tuesday because of personal reasons.
Bad weather
Snow, rain and heavy winds were reported to be sweeping the site of the crash at Meolans-Revels near the town of Barcelonnette, with bad weather forecast for the coming days which would hamper any rescue-and-recovery operations.
French Secretary of State for Transport Alain Vidal said: "There was a distress call recorded at 10:47 ... (which) showed that the aircraft was at 5,000 feet, in an abnormal situation and the crash took place shortly after this signal."
Pierre-Henry Brandet, French Interior Ministry spokesperson, said that the plane crashed "in a mountainous area difficult to access, at 2,000 meters above sea level."
Search-and-rescue teams with helicopters were sent to the crash site.
Merkel to travel to France
German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her “deep sorrow” over the plane crash and promised a comprehensive investigation.
Merkel said at a press conference in Berlin that she phoned French President Francois Hollande and Spain’s Rajoy, and they agreed to closely cooperate to find out the cause of the crash. Merkel added that she would travel to the crash site Wednesday.
German President Joachim Gauck cut short an official visit to South America, and his spokeswoman announced that a planned visit to Uruguay was also cancelled.
Germany sets up crisis desk
German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier said in Berlin that Germany had set up a special crisis desk and hotline number +49 30 5000 3000 in connection with the plane crash.
Steinmeier cancelled his program for Tuesday afternoon and headed to the scene of the crash, together with German Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
"We are all united in deep sorrow," Steinmeier told reporters at the crash site. He thanked the French government and its emergency units for their search operation.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Today's plane crash in the Alps is heartbreaking news."
"The UK will do everything it can to support the French emergency services," Cameron added.
The French union of air traffic controllers, SNCTA, announced in a statement that it had suspended strikes planned for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday given the "dramatic circumstances." The SCNTA said that one of the reasons for their strike was their concerns over overloaded airspace.
Tuesday’s plane crash has been one of the most tragic incidents in Germany’s recent aviation history. It was the first deadly crash of a Germanwings plane since the low-budget airline was founded by Germany’s largest airline in 2002.
The most recent deadly incident of a Lufthansa airplane was in Warsaw in 1993, when an Airbus A320-200 overran the runway. The co-pilot and a passenger died, while 68 occupants survived.
The recent crash is also the first on French soil since July 25, 2000, when an Air France Concorde crashed into a hotel in Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, shortly after taking off from Roissy-CDG airport, leaving 13 German passengers and crew members dead along with four people on the ground.
