Germanwings crash probe begins

5 Dariya News

Paris 25-Mar-2015

A probe was launched Wednesday into the crash of an Airbus A320 of a German budget airline with 150 people on board in southern France while flying from Spain's Barcelona to Germany's Dusseldorf.A plane operated by Germanwings, the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa airlines, crashed on Tuesday in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in the southern French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 on board -- 144 passengers and six crew members."At least some information would be recovered after the examination of the damaged cockpit voice recorder, which records conversations and noises in the cockpit," The Local reported, citing French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve speaking to French radio RTL.The cockpit voice recorder was recovered on Tuesday whereas the search for the second black box is still continuing.

Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said that if voices have been recorded, the investigation would proceed "fairly quickly"."After that, if we have to analyse the sounds, that's a job that will take several weeks, but it's a job that can offer us some explanations," Vidalies added.Earlier on Wednesday, search and rescue operations resumed at the crash site after it was halted late Tuesday night due to bad weather conditions.A number of Germanwings pilots refused to fly, saying they were mourning the victims of the ill-fated aircraft, Deutsche Welle reported.In a series of tweets, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Germanwings and Lufthansa would do everything in their power to help victims' relatives in an "uncomplicated and timely manner"."Seeing the site of the accident was harrowing. We are in deep mourning. Our thoughts are with the relatives of the victims," he tweeted.

One flight, serving the same route as the crashed plane, was cancelled.Families of the victims have already started to arrive in the towns nearest to the scene of the crash.There is a team of 30 psychologists on hand, and a makeshift altar has been set up in memory of the 150 who died.The family members have been welcomed by the townsfolk in Seyne-les Alpes, reported newspaper Le Figaro.The 150 killed include a reported 67 Germans, 45 Spaniards, as well as Australians, Columbians, Argentinians, Belgians, Japanese, Turks and potentially one British national.Among the Germans were 16 school children and two teachers from one high school -- Joseph Koenig Gymnasium -- on their way back from an exchange trip.Media reports indicated that the A320 jetliner was one of the oldest in Germanwings' fleet and had served for over 24 years. It had flown to Barcelona from Duesseldorf earlier on Tuesday before meeting with the accident on the return flight.German Chancellor Angela Merkel along with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and French President Francois Hollande will visit the crash site later in the day.Germanwings and Lufthansa have set up a free hotline with number 0800-11335577 for families of passengers involved for care and assistance.