GETTY•ARCGIS The Germanwings plane crashed in the French Alps
The first pictures of the crash site have emerged after French Prime Minister Manuel Vells said a helicoptor had managed to land near the site and had found no survivors despite earlier reports of a "moving body" being spotted among the wreckage. Parlementarian Christophe Castaner told local radio station France Info one of the plane's black box had been found It is thought the dead included 16 German schoolchildren on an exchange to Spain, two teachers and two babies. Gilbert Sauvan, an official with the local council, told Les Echos newspaper: "The plane is disintegrated. The largest debris is the size of a car." The Germanwings aircraft, owned by aviation heavyweight Lufthansa, was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf when it disappeared from radar at 10.39am local time after air traffic control issued a distress warning - 39 minutes after take-off. It plunged from its cruising height of 40,000 feet to 6,200 feet in 8 minutes, which aviation experts have described as being a "catastrophic loss" of altitude. "It is going to take days to recover the victims, then the debris," said senior police officer Jean-Paul Bloy French authorities have confirmed 144 passengers, two pilots and four stewards were on board - none are believed to have survived. It is thought 63 of the passengers were German and the Spanish deputy prime minister has confirmed 45 are Spanish, including two babies. UK Prime Minister David Cameron said his thoughts are "very much with the families and friends of all those aboard" and the Foreign Office was making inquiries about whether any Britons were on board.
matrixpictures.co.uk Pictures of the Germanwings crash site have emerged
Selon Christophe Castaner, député du 04, “une des boîtes noires a été retrouvée” (télé) #4U9525 pic.twitter.com/cqCiQQFRks — Breaking 3.0 (@Breaking3zero) March 24, 2015
Getty The plane dropped from 40,000ft to 6,200ft in 10 minutes
Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said the captain on board was experienced and had been with the airline and with Germanwings' parent company Lufthansa for more than 10 years and had clocked up 6,000 flying hours on this particular Airbus model. He added that the plane, which was 24-years-old, had had a normal service at Dusseldorf yesterday and its last major check-up was in the summer of 2013. The Spanish aviation authority has set up a room in Barcelona's El Prat airport for family and friends of the Spaniards on the flight which set off from Barcelona at 9am Spanish time today. The last A320 to crash was AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which was flying from Surabaya to Singapore in December. All 162 people on board died. Today's crash in the Massif des Trois évêchs in the valley of Haute-Bléone, in the Digne region is near the ski resort of Barcelonnette. It is not yet known whether anybody on the ground has been affected but police helicopters were scrambled immediately and have reported debris strewn on the ground. The area is very remote and the only way to reach it is via helicopter or a two and a half hour hike from the nearest village. 244 firefighters and the same number of police are said to be on their way to the scene. UK weather experts said conditions in the area at the time of the crash were "nothing out of the ordinary" but by Tuesday afternoon there was chilly rain falling.
TWITTER Helicopters prepare to take off to view the crash site
TWITTER Emergency vehicles on standby
There are no survivors President Hollande
French President Francois Hollande said: "The conditions of the accident, which have not yet been clarified, lead us to think there are no survivors." Mr Hollande said the crash was a tragedy and called for solidarity with the victims, adding that the area of the crash was very difficult to access. The cause of the crash is unknown but flight crews were reportedly aware of the problem and signalled to air traffic control before the plane went down. Carsten Spohr, Lufthansa's CEO, said: "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 on 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."
AP Francois Hollande with Queen Leitzia of Spain and King Felipe
KCS Presse•Splash News President Hollande and Spanish Queen Letizia look sad as they meet in Paris
Family and friends of those on board the plane were escorted to a private room at Barcelona's El Prat airport. The Germanwings plane was used frequently by Spaniards who have emigrated to Germany to escape mass unemployment. Spanish King Felipe VI has cancelled a three-day official visit to France after arriving today with wife Letizia, but is expected to visit the crash scene later. David Cameron took to Twitter to express his condoloences and said: "Today's plane crash in the Alps is heartbreaking news. The UK will do everything it can to support the French emergency services." Deputy UK Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: "My heart goes out to the family and friends of the people who have appeared to have lost their lives in this devastating crash in the alps and must be the most dramatic time."
REUTERS Distraught family members arrive in Barcelona
Aviation expert Captain Mike Vivian told Sky News: “Germanwings is a very competent company as you might expect given that it is wholly owned by Lufthansa, the major German flag carrier. “Something either catastrophic obviously has taken place, or there has been a major emergency. “If it has been the second, it would probably be preceded by a radio call, but I don't know whether there was one or not.” The Airbus A320 is a single-aisle aircraft, popular for short and medium-haul flights. It comes from the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft family which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321 models. On its website, Airbus reports that an A320 family aircraft takes off or lands every 2.5 seconds of every day. It is used by many airlines including low-cost carriers such as easyJet. British Airways operates 120 Airbus A320s.
REUTERS A rescue helicopter from the French Securite Civile flies over the French Alps
D-AIPX taking off from  in May 2014.
, an Airbus  carrying 150 passengers and crew, crashed into the  yesterday between  and . Officials said there were no survivors. The plane was flying to , Germany from , Spain. An emergency recovery team made its way to the crash site and reportedly recovered one of the plane's .

According to French authorities, 144 passengers were aboard the plane, reportedly including sixteen school children who were travelling on a German exchange project. A further six crew were present, including the two pilots. The flight was predominately made up of Spanish and German citizens.

The pilots did not send a distress signal. Various officials described the crash as an accident; the  stated terrorism is not believed to be a factor. The weather reportedly was clear when the crash occurred. The plane descended for eight minutes before impact falling, by various reports, more than 30,000 .

French President François Hollande said regarding the accident "I would like to send all our solidarity to the family of the victims... It's a new air tragedy; we must know all the causes. We are in mourning because this accident happened on our territory". He said he has been in contact with both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and King , the later of whom cancelled the remainder of his state visit to France.
 
According to French prosecutor Bruce Robin the plane was completely destroyed. He said "The body of the plane is in a state of destruction, there is not one intact piece of wing or fuselage". He made the comments to  news agency describing his view of the crash site from a helicopter.  

Germanwings is owned by Lufthansa. CEO of Lufthansa  said  "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 on 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors."

The plane, registered as D-AIPX, had been in service for nearly 25 years. It first flew on November 29, 1990 and had been last checked earlier this month. 

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