AVIATION: Germanwings A320 crashes in French Alps

A Germanwings Airbus A320 with 150 people on board crashed in the French Alps near Digne on Tuesday morning, aviation officials said, with no survivors likely.

The aircraft, belonging to the Lufthansa subsidiary, had been returning home from Barcelona to Duesseldorf with 144 passengers and six crew.
"The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors," said French President Francois Hollande, describing the crash as a tragedy and adding that the area was very difficult to access.
Hollande called German Chancellor Angela Merkel to express his sympathy, while Spain's King Felipe, on a state visit to France, thanked the French government for its help and said he was cancelling the rest of his visit.
Search-and-rescue teams are headed to the crash site at Meolans-Revels, with debris located at an altitude of 2,000m.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve was on the scene and a ministerial crisis cell had been set up to co-ordinate the incident with officials saying it would be "an extremely long and extremely difficult'' search-and-rescue operation because of the remoteness.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr tweeted: "We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."
Nigel Cassidy, BBC's Europe business reporter, said that “although it began its life as an independent low-cost carrier, Germanwings is wholly owned by its parent Lufthansa. It operates increasing numbers of the group's point-to-point short-haul routes and takes many passengers from German cities to Mediterranean sunspots.”
The airline has an excellent safety record with no previously reported accidents. The average age of its Airbus fleet is just over nine years old, though flight 4U 9525 was a 24-year-old A320.