Airbus A320 carrying 144 passengers, including two babies and 16 German children, plus six crew members and some British nationals crashed in southern France yesterday morning.
Reports suggest the aircraft had been grounded just 24 hours before it crashed, the aircraft had suffered technical issues, including a landing gear problem, the day before. The damaged black box and flight data recorder – which could unlock the mystery to why it crashed- have been found amongst the pulverised wreckage and may contain the last exchanges between the two pilots on board.
They are crucial, because experts are baffled as to why the crew did not send out a mayday or distress signal as the plane went into a terrifying eight minute dive.
President Barack Obama expressed his condolences over the ‘awful’ crash which he called ‘particularly heartbreaking’ as so many of the plane’s passengers were young.
Urgent safety checks are now being carried out on other A320s, as passengers were left stranded at Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester yesterday after several Germanwings crews refused to work over safety fears.