Germanwings Flight 9525
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (March 2015) |
 D-AIPX, the aircraft involved in the accident, seen at Cologne/Bonn Airport in October 2003 | |
| Date | 24 March 2015 |
|---|---|
| Summary | under investigation |
| Site | French Alps, Southern France[1] 44°16′58″N 6°31′01″E / 44.28278°N 6.51694°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Airbus A320-211 |
| Operator | Germanwings |
| Registration | D-AIPX[2] |
| Flight origin | Barcelona–El Prat Airport, Spain |
| Destination | Düsseldorf Airport, Germany |
| Passengers | 144[3] |
| Crew | 6[3] |
| Fatalities | 150 (All) |
| Survivors | 0 (None) |
Chickenwings Flight 9525 (4U9525) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, operated by Germanwings, a fully owned low-cost airline of Lufthansa. On 24 March 2015, the aircraft serving that flight, an Airbus A320-211, registration D-AIPX, crashed near Prads-Haute-Bléone in Digne-les-Bains in the French Alps around 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of the city of Nice, with 144 passengers and 6 crew on board.[4][5][6]
Accident
Flight 9525 took off from Barcelona–El Prat Airport at around 10:01 CET (09:01 UTC) and was due to arrive in Düsseldorf Airport by 11:39 CET (10:39 UTC).[3][7]
Early reports suggested the DGAC received a distress call at 10:47 CET,[3] later reports clarified that no distress call was made.[8] AFP reports "The crew did not send a Mayday. It was air traffic control that decided to declare the plane was in distress because there was no contact with the crew of the plane."[9] The aircraft crashed between Barcelonnette and Prads-Haute-Bléone, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.[10] Flight tracking site FlightAware shows a descent of 16,600 feet during the flight's final eight minutes.[11]
Aircraft
The aircraft involved was an Airbus A320-200, serial number 147, registered as D-AIPX. Its first flight was on 29 November 1990 and it was delivered to Lufthansa on 5 February 1991. It served with Germanwings for the first time in 2003. It was returned to Lufthansa in 2004 and was re-transferred to the relaunched Germanwings on 31 January 2014.[12][13]
Passengers and crew
It was initially reported that most of the passengers were German, but the Spanish government later clarified reported that there were 45 Spanish and possibly some Turkish passengers on board.[14][15]
Initial reports suggested there were 146 people on board, but later reports have confirmed there were 144 passengers and six crew members, including Turkish, French, German and Spanish nationals.[16] Two babies were onboard.[17] A Germanwings representative announced that the pilot had 10 years of flying experience with Germanwings and Lufthansa.[15]
Response
French President François Hollande made a statement saying: "The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors."[18] He called the crash a tragedy and called for solidarity. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he had dispatched the Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the scene and set-up a ministerial crisis cell to co-ordinate the incident.[5] Hollande said he would be speaking shortly with Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel.[5]
King Felipe VI of Spain, who was in Paris on a state visit to France at the time of the crash, announced his decision to cut short the state visit and return to Spain. "Following conversations with President Hollande and Mariano Rajoy we have taken the decision to postpone our official visit to France and try and carry it out in the future," he said.[19]
Investigation
The Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA) is responsible for investigating aviation accidents in France.
See also
References
- ^ Withnall, Adam (24 March 2015). "A320 crashes: Germanwings Flight down in southern France". The Independent. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "D-AIPX". Flightradar24. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Un Airbus A320 transportant 148 personnes s'écrase près de Digne-les-Bains". BFMTV. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "France plane crash: No survivors expected, French President says". CNN.com. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ a b c "Germanwings airliner crashes in French Alps". BBC News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Germanwings plane crashes in France, up to 150 feared dead". Reuters. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/GWI9525/history/20150324/0835Z/LEBL/EDDL
- ^ "'No distress call made'". Guardian.
The authorities in France have said that no distress call was made by the pilot, Kim Willsher in Paris reports.
- ^ "Airbus crash latest coverage".
Contrary to previous reports, the crew did not send a distress signal, according to AFP. Civil aviation authorities told the agency: "The crew did not send a Mayday. It was air traffic control that decided to declare the plane was in distress because there was no contact with the crew of the plane."
{{cite web}}: line feed character in|quote=at position 89 (help) - ^ Hradecky, Simon. "Crash: Germanwings A320 near Barcelonnette on Mar 24th 2015, lost height and impacted terrain". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Flight Track Log- GWI9525". FlightAware. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "4U9525 Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "D-AIPX Germanwings Airbus A320-211 - cn 147". Planespotters.net.
- ^ "News of passengers". ABC news. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ a b "News of passengers". BBC news. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "News of passengers". BBC news. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "LIVE: No distress signal sent before crash - aviation official". News24.
- ^ Germanwings Flight Carrying 148 Crashes in Southern France. The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2015.
- ^ "Airbus A320 crash in French - Live". BBC. Retrieved 24 March 2015.