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A320 Crash in Southern France

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Germanwings have released a statement via Twitter regarding reports that their aircraft has crashed..

We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident though we still do not have any own confirmed information. As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately. Please monitor our website for periodic updates.
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https://twitter.com/germanwings
 
French President Hollande says that it is unlikely that there are survivors. All 142 passengers and 6 cabin crew presumed killed.
 
From the flightradar picture it seems like it steadily lost altitude.

Also:

Germanwings flight #4U9525 (registration D-AIPX) was lost from Flightradar24 at 6800 feet at 09.39 UTC time.
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I wonder if that's the height of the mountain there.
 
GlamFM said:
I´m from Düsseldorf - FUCK!

I hope nobody I knew was on board.

FUCK FUCK FUCK!
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Same here - Barcelona to Düsseldorf is actually much worse than the other way around for people I might now. It would not be too uncommon for someone to return from a weekend-trip on a Tuesday.

Either way, it's a horrible thing to happen.
 
An A320 crash in Europe under good conditions surely aren't everyday news.
For one afraid of flying it surely feels uncomfortable. I absolutely hate flying.

My thoughts go out to the families and relatives of those involved.
 
I have been here like 12 years ago, don't know the area good enough but this seems likely:

ZrGaVI0.png

https://twitter.com/uk_expat/status/580325642862010368
 
industrian said:
That too.

Also, as this crash occurred in Europe it's worthy of a headline. If this had happened in Africa then it would have been buried with the other news stories.
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Not really true, come on. All the Malaysia planes and all that stuff was on TV all the time since the first time.

This stuff doesn't happen frequently enough (thankfully!) to be buried amongst other random news.
 
Festwill said:
Just saw that, that's just horrible. And unnerving, have to fly in a cple of weeks.
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I bought tickets to fly from Asia to Europe, a few minutes later that plane got shot down over Ukraine. Didn't stop me from going. Hell, I flew from Taipei > Singapore > Eastern Australia a few days after that plane crash in Taipei.

Flying is one of the safest forms of transport available, and planes are some of the most highly-engineered and most thoroughly-inspected machines in everyday use.

Linius said:
Yeah and that makes you think what the hell went wrong. It's a pretty standard route for holiday travels.
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Sometimes shit just happens.
 
You hardly ever hear of crashes like this, in Europe, any more. I mean, it's not a landing or a take-off crash. Scary.

Thoughts with those on board and their family/friends.
 
Very mysterious. I assume they were flying too high for down draught or something like that too matter? So maybe just a technical failure..
 
DrM said:
Plane altitude is quite interesting, they started to get lower and lower, just as they passed Marseille
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That's what I noticed too. If they lost control of it there should be a Mayday call from the pilot. If they would have just lost the engines they would have tried to avoid the mountains area. Unless there was a decompression and the pilots were unconscious (having such a straight line trajectory).
 
maquiladora said:
It's still a very safe method of travel though tragic accidents will always be inevitable. You are far more likely to die on the road on the way to the airport than in a plane crash. In the US alone, on average 90 people are killed in road traffic accidents every single day.
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I know that, trust me I know. But there's always this horrible whispering of terrible things at the back of my head when flying that I never get when I'm driving. Maybe because I have control of the car while with a plane I'm leaving it to someone else with no idea about what going on around me.
 
KingSnake said:
That's what I noticed too. If they lost control of it there should be a Mayday call from the pilot. If they would have just lost the engines they would have tried to avoid the mountains area. Unless there was a decompression and the pilots were unconscious (having such a straight line trajectory).
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According to German Media there was a Mayday call - we just don´t know what it was about yet.
 
Goddamn what could have happened? All those lives.....

Doesn't quell my anxieties about the 36 hours plus of flights I have coming up in a couple of weeks, but that's irrational.
 
As soon I read "in the Alps" I though on very very low chances of survivors... RIP.
It's very rare such accidents within Europe, let's wait for further news.

Information around says plane was delivered in 1991 (almost 25 years old). Isn't this the usual lifespan of a plane? But I know number of cycles/mileage is also related to it.
 
NEO0MJ said:
I know that, trust me I know. But there's always this horrible whispering of terrible things at the back of my head when flying that I never get when I'm driving.
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You have control over your car. You have no control as a passenger over 1000 metres above ground. Its only human to feel more uncomfortable.
 
daydream said:
Very mysterious. I assume they were flying too high for down draught or something like that too matter? So maybe just a technical failure..
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There are far too many things that it might have been to speculate on. Unfortunately that's all anyone will do for the next few days before they find the black boxes, instead of just letting the professionals work it out.
 
luso said:
Information around says plane was delivered in 1991 (almost 25 years old). Isn't this the usual lifespan of a plane? But I know number of cycles/mileage is also related to it.
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There are probably no survivors, they hit the ground with over 350 knots.

Yeah, planes can fly for 30+ years, if they are properly maintained
 
Armchair speculation would rule out a pilot error, considering the trajectory... you don't drop 20.000 feet without knowing it...

Flight control issue or air pressure issue are more likely...

With engine problems they would have tried to land at another airport... and a explosion wouldn't make you drop gradually..
 
Scary, I have taken the Düsseldorf-Barcelona route a couple of times. Flying is obviously as safe as ever, but it feels different when it happens in your own neighborhood.
 
Not very pleasant news to say the least. Hope for the best.


Incidentally I'll be flying to Düsseldorf on Thursday with an A320.
 
DBT85 said:
There are far too many things that it might have been to speculate on. Unfortunately that's all anyone will do for the next few days before they find the black boxes.
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Indeed. Really the most awful news. I'm desperately clinging on to hope of some survivors, at least, but it feels like a confirmation on that front is about to shatter that hope any minute now.
 
Something obviously went very wrong at 9:31 but there was no attempt to turn the plane around for an emergency landing after that, it just continued straight on it's existing heading while rapidly descending.
 
maquiladora said:
Something obviously went very wrong at 9:31 but there was no attempt to turn the plane around for an emergency landing after that, it just continued straight on it's existing heading while rapidly descending.
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Maybe toxic gases in the cockpit and a blacked out pilot?
 
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