Germanwings Airbus A320 French Alps Crash News & Updates: All Passengers Killed

A Germanwings plane, which was on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf carrying 150 people, crashed in the French Alps Tuesday.

According to BBC, Airbus A320 flight 4U 9525 disappeared from radar screens and crashed between Digne and Barcelonnette, and none of the passengers survived. The "black box" flight recorder has already been found, but there is no news yet on what caused the tragedy since the plane's pilot did not send any distress signal while it was descending for eight minutes.

Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by German company Lufthansa, the country's main carrier known to have an excellent safety record. French, Spanish, and German leaders all expressed their shock with news of the crash.

The Telegraph UK reported that fire service teams, gendarmes, and doctors, members of the rescue team who searched for the debris, black boxes, and bodies of the ill-fated plane all gathered in the small village of Seyne-les-Alpes hours after the incident.

Doctor Frédéric Jeanpetit, who was among the first to locate the wreck told the Telegraph that there is a ton of debris in the crash site. "It's scattered all over the place. Very little was recognizable, there were no whole bodies, only parts," he said.

BBC noted that among the passengers were 16 German students returning from an exchange trip. Bodo Klimpel, Mayor of the Halter Am See in Northwest Germany, where the students went to school, said in a statement, "This is the darkest day in the history of our city. It is about the worst thing imaginable."

The Telegraph UK confirmed that a mother from Manchester, Marina Bandres Lopez-Belio, and her baby, were among the passengers who were killed.

Officials also believe that 67 of the passengers were German citizens, and 45 of them have Spanish names, BBC reported, quoting Spain's deputy prime minister. The flight was reportedly carrying citizens from Australia, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Belgium as well.  UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement that it's possible that some British Nationals were among those who perished in the crash.

The direct cause of the crash is still to be determined, as it was reported that the weather was good when the crash occurred. According to the New York Times, when the French traffic air controllers lost contact with the airbus, it was flying at a mere 6,000 feet.

Through its official social media sites, the airline released the following statement:

"We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf has suffered an accident over the French Alps. The flight was being operated with an Airbus A320 aircraft, and was carrying 144 passengers and six crew members.

"Lufthansa and Germanwings have established a telephone hotline. The toll-free 0800 11 33 55 77 number is available to all the families of the passengers involved for care and assistance.

"Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members. "