Flight 9525 took off from Runway 07R at Barcelona–El Prat Airport at

10:01:12 CET (09:01.12 UTC) and was due to arrive at Düsseldorf Airport by 11:39 CET

(10:39 UTC).[2][10] The flight's scheduled departure time was 09:35 CET (08:35 UTC).[11]

The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC), the French civil aviation authority, declared

the aircraft in distress after the aircraft's descent and loss of radio contact.[12][13]

According to the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA;

English: Bureau of Investigations and Analyses),[14] at 10:30 CET, pilots confirmed instructions

from French air traffic control.

At 10:31.02 CET, after crossing the French coast near Toulon, the aircraft made a slight

course correction, left its assigned cruising altitude and without approval began a rapid

descent. Radar observed an average descent rate of approximately 17.8 metres per second

(3,500 feet per minute). Attempts by French air traffic control to contact the flight on the

assigned radio frequency radio link were not answered.[15] A French military Mirage jet was

scrambled from the Orange air base [16]  to intercept the plane.[17] According to BEA, radar

contact was lost at 10:40.47 CET; at the time, the aircraft was flying at an altitude of 6,175 ft

(1,882 m).[18]

The aircraft crashed within the territory of the remote commune of Prads-Haute-Bléone, 100

kilometres (62 mi) north-west of Nice.[19][20][21][22]

The crash is the deadliest air disaster in France since the crash of Inex-Adria Aviopromet

Flight 1308 in 1981, in which 180 people died, and the third-deadliest in France behind Flight

1308 and Turkish Airlines Flight 981.[23] This was the first major crash of a civil airliner in

France since the crash of Air France Flight 4590 on takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport in

2000.[24] The crash is also the first loss of a Lufthansa-owned airliner during the cruising phase

of flight.[25]

Cause of crash[edit]

The French prosecutor, the French and German authorities and a spokesperson for

Germanwings have all stated that the crash was intentional.[6][7][8][9] During the descent, the pilots

did not respond to questions from air traffic control, and did not transmit any distress

call. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said that contact from the Marseille air traffic control

tower was audible on the cockpit voice recorder multiple times.[26]Lufthansa CEO Carsten

Spohr stated that the pilot left the cabin for a toilet break and entered his code to open the

cockpit door, but the co-pilot disabled access from the cockpit controls.[27] The pilot then

proceeded to bang on the door, with no response from the co-pilot.[14][28][29] Reuters reported that

German aviation law permits pilots to leave the cockpit while the aircraft is cruising.[30] Evidence showed the autopilot was abruptly switched from cruising altitude to 100 feet

(30 m), which is the lowest setting for the autopilot.[31]

Crash site[edit]

The crash site is within the Massif des Trois-Évêchés, and is close to Mount Cimet, where Air

France Flight 178 crashed in 1953.[32][33]

Police and Sécurité Civile sent helicopters to locate the wreckage.[34][35] A picture from the

accident site was released, with the report that the aircraft had disintegrated, the largest piece

of wreckage being "the size of a car".[36] A helicopter landed near the site of the crash and

confirmed that there were no survivors.[37] The search and rescue team reported that the debris

field is two square kilometres (500 acres) in size.[21]The plane appears not to have deviated

from its heading during the descent.[38]

The DGAC has set up temporary flight restrictions in the area surrounding the crash site. The

prohibited area was first set on 24 March at 11:47 GMT (12:47 CET); a circle of 3 nautical

miles (5.6 km) radius centred at 44°16′50″N 6°26′25″E from FL000 up to FL140.[39] At 13:38

GMT (14:38 CET), a second larger area was added to cover a radius of 10 nautical miles

(19 km; 12 mi) centred at 44°16′48″N 6°26′24″E from FL000 to FL100.[40] Entry into the

airspace is forbidden, except for state flights or for rescue missions.[41] Rescue efforts were

suspended overnight by the French authorities to ensure the safety of the rescuers.[42]

Aircraft[edit]

The aircraft involved was a 24-year-old Airbus A320-211,[b] serial number 147, registered as D-

AIPX. It first flew on 29 November 1990.[43] The aircraft had accumulated about 58,300 flight

hours on 46,700 flights.[44]The original Design Service Goal (DSG) of the aircraft was 60,000

hours or 48,000 flights. In 2012, an optional Extended Service Goal (ESG1) was approved,

extending the service life to 120,000 hours or 60,000 flights, provided that a required package

of service and inspections was performed before the DSG was reached.[45]

Crew and passengers[edit]

People on board by nationality[46]

Nationality No.

 Germany[c] 70[48]

 Spain 51[49]

 Argentina 3[50]

 Kazakhstan 3[51]

 United Kingdom[d] 3[54]

People on board by nationality[46]

Nationality No.

 United States 3[55]

 Australia 2[56]

 Colombia 2[57]

 Iran 2[58]

 Japan 2[59]

 Mexico 2[60]

 Morocco 2[61]

 Venezuela 2[62]

 Belgium 1[63]

 Chile 1[64]

 Denmark 1[65]

 Israel 1[66]

 Netherlands 1[67]

 Turkey 1[68]

Total number of victims 150

Number of victims with dual citizenships

5

There were 144 passengers and six crew members on board, most of them German and

Spanish nationals[46] but from at least 18 nations in total. The early count was confused by dual

citizenship.[69]

Crew[edit]

German media identified the pilot in command as Captain Patrick Sondenheimer.[70] Germanwings announced that the captain had 10 years of flying experience (6000 flight

hours)[19] with Germanwings and Lufthansa flying A320s, as well as Condor.[70][71]

The First Officer was named as Andreas Lubitz, 27.[72][73][74] Lufthansa commented that Lubitz

took time out from his pilot training in 2009;[7] an acquaintance of Lubitz stated that this was

due to having suffered from burnout and depression.[75] He had 630 flight hours of experience

before the crash.[76]

Passengers[edit]

Amongst the passengers were 16 schoolchildren and two teachers from the Joseph-König-

Gymnasium of Haltern am See, North Rhine-Westphalia. They were on their way home from a

student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès, Barcelona.[77] Haltern's

mayor, Bodo Klimpel, has described it as "the darkest day in the history of our city."[78]

The Deutsche Oper am Rhein confirmed that bass-baritone Oleg Bryjak was among the

passengers,[79] as was German contralto Maria Radner.[80] Members of theSwedish

football team Dalkurd FF were booked to be on the flight but changed at the last moment.[56]

Investigation[edit]

The French national civil aviation enquiries bureau, Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la

Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA), opened an investigation into the crash, joined by its

German counterpart, the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Investigation (BFU). On 24

March, the BEA sent seven investigators to the crash site, accompanied by representatives

from Airbus and CFM International. The BEA held a press conference on 25 March from 16:00

to 16:45 UTC.[81][82]

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was recovered by rescue workers and was examined by the

investigation team.[83][84] The recorder was damaged in the crash, but was still in a usable

condition.[38] The BEA released photos of the CVR[85] and was able to extract a voice recording.[86]

On 26 March, Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin said it appeared that co-pilot Lubitz, a 27-year-

old German, crashed the jet deliberately.[6][87]

When investigators asked Germanwings if another member of the flight crew must be present

in the cockpit when one of the pilots leaves, they replied that the company has no such

requirement, nor do European regulations.[88]

Marseille prosecutor Robin said that the co-pilot Lubitz's responses, initially courteous in the

first part of the trip, became "curt" when the captain began the mid-flight briefing on the

planned landing. Lubitz is thought to have manually set the plane on the descent that drove it

into the mountain.[89]

German prosecutors later announced that police had begun searching Lubitz's home for

evidence,[90] including religious ties, although Marseille prosecutor Robin responded to a

reporter's question about Lubitz's religious background by stating, "I don't think that's where

the answer to this lies".[91]

On 26 March 2015, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation announced it would assist in the

crash investigation at the request of the French government.[92][93]

Response[edit]

Political[edit]

French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve remarked that due to the "violence of the

impact" there was "little hope" that any survivors would be found.[94] Prime Minister Manuel

Valls said he had dispatched Interior Minister Cazeneuve to the scene and set-up a ministerial

crisis cell to co-ordinate the response to the incident.[95]

King Philip VI of Spain, in Paris for a state visit to France at the time of the crash, announced

his decision to cut his visit short and return to Spain.[46]

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she would travel to the crash site on 25

March together with Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Hannelore Kraft.[96]

[97] Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier flew over the crash site on 24 March, describing it

as "a picture of horror".[95]

Merkel, French Prime Minister Valls, and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy visited the

recovery operations base at Seyne-les-Alpes on 25 March.[98]

United States President Barack Obama (appearing at the White House with

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who also expressed his sympathies) called the crash "an

awful tragedy" and offered U.S. assistance to investigate it.[99]

Commercial[edit]

Several Germanwings flights were cancelled on 24–25 March, which the pilots' union says

was due to grief at the loss of their colleagues.[100][101]

Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr visited the crash location on 25 March, and

afterwards said that this is "the darkest day for Lufthansa in its 60-year history".[102]

Shortly after the crash, Germanwings changed their website and social media branding

to greyscale images. Lufthansa, Swiss, and Austrian also did the same thing.

On 25 March, Germanwings retired the flight number 4U9525, changing it to 4U9441. The

outbound flight number was also changed: from 4U9524 to 4U9440. The flight numbers for the

later Düsseldorf to Barcelona flight remain unchanged.[103]

Following the accident, many airlines have announced they now require at least two people to

be on the flightdeck at all times during flight for safety reasons.[104][105][106][107]

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