An Airbus A320 carrying 150
people from Barcelona to Düsseldorf crashed
into an alpine mountainside Tuesday after an
unexplained 8-minute descent, leaving no
apparent survivors and two countries in
mourning.
Officials who flew over the crash site in the
French Alps on Tuesday described an awful
scene of desolation: a mountain face blanketed
by small debris and body parts, suggesting the
plane operated by Germanwings, the low-cost
arm of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, disintegrated
on impact.
“The violence of the crash leaves little hope for
survivors,” French Interior Minister Bernard
Cazeneuve said upon returning to Seyne, the
remote village where emergency workers have
established a base camp, after inspecting the
site by helicopter as France rushed to mount a
complex search-and-recovery operation.
The crash of Flight 9525 stunned Germany and
Spain, whose nationals made up most of the
flight manifest. German Chancellor Angela
Merkel said she would join Spanish Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy in Seyne on Wednesday
to pay respects to the victims alongside French
President François Hollande.

www.wsj.com/articles/germanwings-a320-plane-crashes-in-southern-france-1427195298