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Scale of horror emerges as questions remain over Alps plane crash

All 150 people on board are feared dead.

France Plane Crash Frank Augstein / AP/Press Association Images Frank Augstein / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

SOMETIME AFTER 10.53am local-time, a Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf crashed in the Digne area of the French Alps, with 150 people feared dead.

Here’s what we know so far:

  • 150 people were on board, including 144 passengers, two pilots and four crew.
  • The French president and prime minister have said they expect ‘no survivors’.
  • The airline, Germanwings, say they are treating the crash as an accident.
  • The French Foreign Minister has said that one of the black boxes has been found.
  • 16 German schoolchildren on an exchange programme were on board.
  • The plane went into an eight-minute descent but authorities say no distress single was sent.
  • The single-aisle A320 was flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf .
  • President Francois Hollande said the area of the crash was remote and the rescue operation will be long and difficult.

TheJournal.ie provided updates on the tragedy throughout the day.

The area where the plane went down is near a popular ski resort.

A statement from Germanwings is expected shortly. Here’s what the airline has said so far:

“It’s a tragedy on our soil,” President Hollande has said, adding he would be speaking shortly with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

A statement just in from the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs:

The Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade  is aware of reports that a German wings plane has crashed in Southern  France with 148 people on board.   The plane was en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.

There is no information as yet as to the nationalities of those on board.   The Department is in contact with relevant authorities through our Embassies in Paris, Madrid and Berlin.

If you have concerns for a family member or relative please contact the Department of Foreign Affairs on 01-4082527.

Debris from the crash has been located at 2,000 metres.

The chief executive of Lufthansa (of which Germanwings is a subsidiary of) says the airline ‘doesn’t know yet what happened’ to crashed flight.

Pierre-Henry Brandet, the French Interior Ministry spokesman, told BFM television that he expects “an extremely long and extremely difficult” search and rescue operation because of the area’s remoteness.

A scene from the arrivals board at the airport in Duesseldorf, German, where Flight 4U 9525 was expected.

Germany France Plane Crash AP Photo / Frank Augstein AP Photo / Frank Augstein / Frank Augstein

France’s leading air traffic controller union SNCTA has called off a strike planned from Wednesday to Friday after news of the crash.

“We are suspending our planned strike as a result of the emotions created in the control rooms by the crash, particularly in Aix-en-Provence,” the union’s spokesman Roger Rousseau told AFP.

The plane sent out a distress signal at 10:45 am local time.

French President Francois Hollande told a press conference that he has been in touch with both German and Spanish leaders about it.

Because the area where the crash took place is “particularly difficult to access”, authorities don’t know right now what the other consequences of the crash have been – whether people living in the area have been affected – but they will know in the coming hours.

hollande

A man who appears to have waited for the crashed flight 4U 9525 covers his face at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany:

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein / AP/Press Association Images Frank Augstein / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

According to Plane Finder, the route the plane took was nothing out of the ordinary. Here’s yesterday’s flight path…

… and here’s today’s.

A quick snippet about Germanwings from The Associated Press:

Germanwings is a lower-cost unit of Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest airline. It has been operating since 2002 — part of traditional national carriers’ response from rising European budget carriers. It serves mainly European destinations.

A spokesman for Airbus, the European aerospace giant and manufacturer of the A320, said it could not make any comment “for the moment”.

“We have no information on the circumstances of the accident,” the spokesman told AFP, adding that the company had opened a “crisis cell”.

Here’s the latest from the Spanish government, from where the flight departed.

Germanwings will hold a press conference at 2pm near Cologne-Bonn airport. The airline had previously said it will inform the media of more details as soon as possible. It’s parent company, Lufthansa, said earlier that “if our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa”.

The Airbus A320 is a very common aircraft, operated by airlines all over the world. According to the manufacturer, as many as 6,500 planes have been produced.

It first entered operation in the late 1980s.

As it is very common, and has been in operation for almost three decades, it has been involved in a number of crashes.

The latest was AirAsia Flight 8501.

Pictures are starting to come through from Dusseldorf airport, where some people were waiting for the flight this morning. This woman is being led away by airport staff after the news.

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein Frank Augstein

Lufthansa says it has no reasons for the crash, and the police have said the same thing.

Captain Benoit Zeisser of the Digne-le-Bains police told AP there were some clouds in the region but the cloud ceiling was not low and there did not appear to be turbulence.

However, weather conditions are deteriorating now, making the search and rescue operation difficult. Access to the site is expected to take some time.

Belgium EU Summit AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has cleared her schedule, her spokesperson has confirmed.

She is ‘shocked’ by the news of the horrific crash.

There are early reports that two of the Spanish citizens on board the flight were children.

Germanwings has started tweeting from its account again, after darkening the logo on its avatar.

PastedImage-50382

A hotline number has been set up by the German Foreign Ministry for family members and others affected by the crash.

0800 11 33 55 77

Some more information on the Airbus 320, the model of plane involved in today’s tragic incident.

The Airbus 320 plane that went down in the French Alps is a workhorse of modern aviation. Similar to the Boeing 737, the single-aisle, twin-engine jet is used to connect cities that are between one and five hours apart.

There are 3,606 A320s are in operation across the world, according to Airbus, which also makes the smaller but near-identical A318 and A319 and the stretched A321. An additional 2,486 of those jets are flying.

The A320 family has a good safety record, with just 0.14 fatal accidents per million takeoffs, according to a Boeing safety analysis.

President Hollande has said there are also a number of victims from Turkey.

He is currently giving a press conference, standing with the King and Queen of Spain.

He expressed condolences and solidarity on behalf of the French people.

France Spain Plane Crash French prime minister Manuerl Valls, left, speaks with Queen Letizia and King Felipe of Spain AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Spain’s King Felipe has cancelled the remainder of his State visit to France, saying he will return home.

More people are comforted after coming to Dusseldorf airport with plans to greet people off the Germanwings flight.

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein Frank Augstein

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein Frank Augstein

Germanwings has confirmed that there were 144 passengers and six crew members on board the flight.

The most recent, full statement from Germanwings and Lufthansa.

We must confirm to our deepest regret that Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Düsseldorf 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 00800 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.

Witness reports are starting to come in. AP has spoken to Pierre Polizzi who said he began to hear a series of long noises this morning.

There are often fighter jets flying over, so I thought it sounded just like that. I looked outside but I couldn’t see any fighter planes.

“The noise I heard was long – like 8 seconds – as if the plane was going more slowly than a military plane speed. There was another long noise about 30 seconds later.”

BBC Radio 5 spoke to a hotel worker in Digne, the closest town to the crash.

He said the plane was flying “very very low”.

As we wait to hear about the nationalities and identities of today’s victims, their devastated and shocked families are gathering at airports in Barcelona and Dusseldorf.

Spain France Plane Crash Families at Barcelona airport. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The remote area where the plane crashed is making access for rescue teams difficult.

map

PastedImage-62175

As the heartbreaking news reaches families, they gather at Dusseldorf airport in Germany.

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein Frank Augstein

Today’s tragedy comes nearly 15 years after Concorde flight 4590 from Paris to New York crashed just after taking off on 25 July 2000, killing 113 people, sounding the death knell for commercial supersonic travel.

France Concorde Crash Toshihiko Sato Toshihiko Sato

Latest update on the crash itself: An aviation official has said the Germanwings crew did not send a distress signal.

The first pictures from the rescue teams gathering near the site, courtesy of ActuSecours.

PastedImage-41353 © ActuSecours © ActuSecours

PastedImage-45085 © ActuSecours © ActuSecours

PastedImage-89724 © ActuSecours © ActuSecours

PastedImage-5141 © ActuSecours © ActuSecours

There are reports in local German media that an entire class from a secondary school student exchange programme were on board the flight.

The school, Joseph Koenig Gymnasium, has a website which had details about the exchange. However, the site is no longer working.

Local website, Halterner Zeitung, says that 16 students and two teachers were on board.

According to Germanwings officials, who are giving a briefing at the moment, there were 67 German citizens on board the plane.

Germanwings says that families are still being informed about their loved ones.

The company’s officials were not able to put any light on why the plane descended, saying it was just hours after the incident and too early to say.

They also couldn’t confirm if a distress call was made by the crew.

The press conference is just finishing up now.

The steep descent lasted about eight minutes, Germanwings confirmed.

It lost contact with French air-traffic control at 6,000 feet in the air.

There are also reports that there were two babies on board the flight. So far we know there were:

  • 67 German citizens
  • 45 Spanish citizens
  • A number of citizens of Turkey

There are also fears that a student exchange class from a German secondary school were on board.

More from the Germanwings conference:

  • Officials said there should be no issue with the age of the plane – it was in commission for over 20 years. It was checked by technicians yesterday. 
  • The aircraft had made about 58,300 flight hours in 46,700 flights.
  • The captain had 10 years experience.

There is still no indication of why the plane crashed this morning.

Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said the plane began descending again shortly after it reached its cruising height following takeoff from Barcelona Airport.

The descent lasted eight minutes, he told reporters in Cologne. Radar and air traffic control contact broke off at 10.53am.

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Family members comfort each other at Barcelona airport.

More from AP: Prime Minister Manuel Valls says a helicopter has managed to land near where the plane crashed in the Alps, but found no survivors.

PastedImage-11484 ActuSecours ActuSecours

AccuWeather has issued an update about conditions at the crash site.

It says that weather will not be favourable for cleanup and rescue efforts over the next 12 hours.

“The weather is going to be deteriorating near the crash site over the next 12 hours as a storm system moves into the region, producing rain and high-elevation snow,” said meteorologist Eric Leister.

Winds are also forecast to strengthen tonight and tomorrow.

More and more distressed family members are arriving at Dusseldorf and Barcelona airports.

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

 

Spain France Plane Crash AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Germany France Plane Crash Frank Augstein Frank Augstein

President Barack Obama has been briefed on the crash, the White House has said in the last few minutes.

“US officials have been in touch with French, German, and Spanish authorities and have offered assistance. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and loved ones,” his assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism Lisa Monaco, National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said.

More from the crash site. 

A local lawmaker says the debris from the plane crash is spread over 100-200 metres.

Gilbert Sauvan, president of the general council of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, told the AP that “everything is pulverised”.

He said the largest pieces of debris are the size of a small car.

Sauvan said no one can access the site from the ground, but that helicopters are circling the area to get information and 500 firefighters and gendarmes are in the area.

The latest from Lufthansa…

France Plane Crash A rescue helicopter takes off from La Seyne les Alpes. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

General David Galtier, head of France’s national police for the region:

Our priority is to bring to safety any possible survivors. We may have seen a body moving.

The Général also announced a manslaughter investigation has been launched by France’s Gendarmerie Nationale.

Regional French newspaper La Provence reports that a commercial plane crashed just a few miles away, at Mont Cimet, in September 1953, killing 42 people.

PastedImage-90225

Local French MP Christophe Castaner flew over the crash site, which he described as “horrendous”.

There’s nothing left but debris and bodies.

Today’s crash is the first total loss of aircraft in Germanwings history.

CEO of parent firm Lufthansa, Carsten Spohr, described it as a “dark day”.

Some more news from the aviation industry in France.

The country’s leading air traffic controller union SNCTA called off a strike planned from Wednesday to Friday after news of the crash.

“We are suspending our planned strike as a result of the emotions created in the control rooms by the crash, particularly in Aix-en-Provence,” the union’s spokesman Roger Rousseau told AFP.

Lufthansa itself was hit by a four-day pilots’ strike last week, although this did not affect Germanwings.

School pupils on board?

It is now thought that the children from a German school who were on an exchange trip to Barcelona were all about 15 and 16 years of age.

“There were 16 children and two teachers who had spent a week here, poor things. The children were aged about 15,” Marti Pujol, mayor of the village of Llinars de Valles near Barcelona, told AFP.

Pujol said pupils at the Instituto Giola which the German visitors had attended during their exchange were being attended to by the Red Cross and psychologists.

The school’s website is temporarily unavailable but there is a tweet about the trip, dated 18 March.

School pupils on board

The mayor of the German town of Haltern where the school carrying 16 German students and two teachers is located has given a press conference.

He confirms that some parents learnt of the crash through the media.

Some students at the school were informed of the crash when it was likely that the plane was not going to land in Düsseldorf.

He confirms that classes will go ahead tomorrow but that it “will obviously not be a normal day of lessons”.

The Mayor of Haltern Bodo Klimpel says people at the school are “getting support form all sorts of authorities”.

The school will be open tomorrow but “it is obviously going to be very difficult for teachers”.

A spokesman for the French Civil Aviation authority has confirmed that the plane never sent out a distress signal.

AP reports that Eric Heraud said the plane lost radio contact at 10:30am Tuesday, but “never declared a distress alert itself.”

He said it was the combination of loss of radio contract with control and the plane’s descent which prompted the control service to declare a distress.

Reuters is now quoting the French Interior Minister who says one of the plane’s black boxes has been located.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will join German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the crash site tomorrow.

67 German citizens were on board the plane as were 45 Spanish citizens.

The chairman of Düsseldorf Airport has described today’s accident as “a black day for aviation”.

Ludger Dohm says there are about 150 counsellors at the airport who are supporting relatives and those there to collect passengers.

Lufthansa vice-president Heike Birlenbach giving press conference.

Starts by offering  ”sincerest sympathy” to families of passengers.

Airline is working on assumption that the crash was an accident.

The airline says it cannot give any further details about nationality of all the passengers.

Will do so later.

Heike Birlenbach asked why the flight departed half-an-hour later than scheduled.

Says she is unaware and clarifies that she personally is unaware.

The A320 plane involved in the accident is 25 years old. It entered service with Lufthansa in 1991 and was sold to subsidiary Germanwings in 2014.

In total, it has 58,313 flying hours.

The difficult terrain being faced by rescuers is clear in this footage of the crash site by broadcaster France 24.

crash site Youtube / France 24 Youtube / France 24 / France 24

PastedImage-7634 Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. Youtube / France 24 Youtube / France 24 / France 24

Spain has declared three days of national mourning and a minute’s silence for tomorrow at 12pm local-time.

Germany’s football team, the current World Cup holders, will wear black armbands when they play on Australia in Kaiserslautern tomorrow.

The Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona has confirmed that the well-known opera singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner were among those killed in this morning’s crash.

Belgian news website La Libre is reporting that a 59-year-old Belgian man who lived in Barcelona was among the 150 victims of today’s disaster.

AFP reports that a third division Swedish football team, Dalkurd FF, had been booked on to the Barcelona-Dusseldorf flight, but changed their plans at the last minute this morning.

Upon arrival at Barcelona airport, the team decided the layover in Dusseldorf would be too long so they re-booked themselves onto three other flights flying via Zurich and Munich.

French journalist Eric Miguet has acquired these chilling photographs of debris scattered throughout the crash site, taken by emergency services at the scene.

One of them told him, “The plane completely disintegrated.”

This photo gives a sense of the resources deployed to scour the crash site throughout the day.

CA4qAnUW4AA5MF_ French Interior Department French Interior Department

The effort includes:

300 police; five helicopters from the Gendarmerie Nationale; two units of the CRS (specialist Police Nationale unit); a C135FR refuelling airplane; seven helicopters from the Department of Defence; 380 fire-fighters; a reconnaissance plane and three helicopters from France’s Civil Defence; seven French and three German specialist transport investigators; two emergency ambulance units; two units to attend to psychological trauma.

Search suspended until morning

French national newspaper Le Figaro is reporting that searches have been called off for the night and will resume between 5.30 and 6 am on Wednesday.

Five police officers will reportedly stay at the crash site overnight, and will be joined in the morning by 10 medical examiners and a number of forensic investigators, who will begin identifying the victims at that time.

Their efforts could be hampered by rain and snow forecast for the Seyne-les-Alpes region tomorrow, amid temperatures of 2 to 6 degrees.

seyneweather La Chaine Météo La Chaine Météo

Australian mother and son killed in Germanwings tragedy

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed tonight that two Australian nationals – “a mother and her adult son from Victoria” – were on board the flight.

Germanwings flights cancelled amid grief of staff

Several French media are reporting that some Germanwings flights have been cancelled tonight.

Le Figaro quotes Lufthansa spokesperson Florian Grenzdorfer as saying:

Some members of the Germanwings staff indicated to us that they did not feel capable of flying.

They gave personal reasons, and we respect them. As a result, we have had to cancel around 30 flights throughout Europe, seven of which were to depart from Dusseldorf tonight.

For passengers, we are offering to accommodate them on flights by other companies, or with train tickets.

An Israeli citizen was also on board today’s flight, according to reports.

The Jerusalem Post claims a Foreign Ministry spokesperson has confirmed that 39-year-old businessman Eyal Baum, who lived in Germany, is among the dead, and that his family has been informed.

There are unconfirmed reports from French newspaper Le Parisien that two Moroccans in their 20s are among the dead.

That would bring to seven the number of countries which have so far lost citizens in today’s disaster.

It has to be emphasised, however, that this information is provisional, and unfortunately likely to be added to over the coming hours.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has offered his condolences to the families of two Australian victims of the crash, a mother and son from Victoria.

The work has not ended this evening for emergency services at the crash site.

French media are reporting that around 65 police officers have set out tonight to plot a pedestrian route up the side of the mountain, to make it easier for forensic investigators to identify victims in the morning.

Regional emergency services chief Frédéric Petitjean told Le Parisien the area was extremely dangerous, with steep inclines and unstable surface conditions.

British victims are ‘likely’

Foreign ministers meet on Iran PA Wire / Press Association Images PA Wire / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has said it is “sadly likely” that UK citizens are among the dead.

In a statement, he said:

I don’t want to speculate on numbers of British nationals involved until we have completed our checks on all the passenger information.

However, based on the information available to us, it is sadly likely that there were some British nationals on board the flight.

We are providing consular assistance and will give further help as more information becomes available.

Additional reporting by Nicky Ryan, Rónán Duffy, Dan Mac Guill, Associated Press and AFP. 

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138 Comments
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    Mute david garland
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:53 AM

    You can’t imagine the horror of a plane crash.. Let’s hope the people on board knew little about it until the very end..

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    Mute Jack Kelly
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:13 AM

    Sky news reporting there was a distress call made :(

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:26 AM

    It wasn’t a call, it was a distress code 7700 from the aircraft’s transponder.

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    Mute Tony_Kilduff
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:27 AM

    Sky news have also just reported that the aircraft was travelling at ” full speed 24 knots”. Unbelievable rubbish being spouted but it does look as though there may not be any survivors. Tragic.

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:29 AM

    A spokesman for France’s DGAC aviation authority said the airliner crashed near the town of Barcelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north of the French Riviera city of Nice. A statement from the prime minister’s office said the crash happened in Meolans-Revel, a remote and sparsely inhabited commune in the foothills of the French Alps.

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    Mute Paul Flynn
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:40 AM

    @Tony, sky news reporters are idiots, they still don’t know the difference between a tidal wave and a tsunami. Ron burgundy comes to mind.

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    Mute david garland
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:44 AM

    I wonder do the French know something that the rest of us don’t.. Already their saying there will be no survivors and the French President has said there may be other consequences relating from this crash… A bit early to be making them statements when the plane has just gone down imo..

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:48 PM

    There was no transponder communication for 7700 manually inputted from the aircraft. The emergency was communicated by radio verbally to ATC as ‘Emergency, emergency.’ The A320 is also able to send an automated 7700 if the engines power down at altitude. Any of the transponder tracking I’ve seen all show non-emergency squaks.

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    Mute John Tighe
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    Mar 25th 2015, 1:24 PM

    A very sad time for the families who lost there loved ones. Lets hope and pray the press will leave them along. They have enough to handle with there loss.

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    Mute Paul O Donnell
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:55 AM

    Another sad day in aviation. Please god there will be at least some survivors.

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    Mute Baz
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:52 AM

    Thoughts with all the families involved. Sad news

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    Mute TheLawd
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:12 AM

    I rarely take notice of the murder or accident articles written here, because there’s just so many of them. And then a notification comes up of a plane crash, and you visualise hundreds dying, whilst you’re just sitting around sipping on a coffee, the contrast of horror makes me shiver.

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    Mute Byyys
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:20 PM

    Passenger aircraft crashes in last 12 months.

    8th March – Malaysian Airlines MH370 (227 passengers, 12 crew – investigation into disappearance ongoing)
    17th July – Malaysian Airlines MH17 ( 283 passengers and 15 crew. – no survivors)
    23rd July – TransAsia Airways Flight 222 (58 people – 10 survivors)
    24th July – Air Algerie (110 passengers, 6 crew. – no survivors)
    28th December – AirAsia Flight 8501 (155 passengers, 7 crew. – no survivors)
    4th February – TransAsia Airways Flight 235 (53 passengers, 5 crew. – 15 survivors)
    24th March – Lufthansa/Germanwings Flight 4U9525 (144 passengers, 2 pilots, 4 attendants. – survivors unknown)

    hundreds dying?… It over a thousand lives lost.

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:24 PM

    Population & economic growth = more flights & people flying = more accidents

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Mar 25th 2015, 5:24 AM

    Except the airline industry as a whole has been shrinking, not growing.

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    Mute dublin spotter
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:58 AM

    RIP to all souls on-board and prayers for families and friends

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    Mute joanie
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:01 AM

    It may be a bit premature for that comment .

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    Mute Dave Meagher
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:03 AM

    It crashed in the alps , I think we can take it for granted that there will be loss of life.

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    Mute Dave Meagher
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:08 PM

    I didn’t mean sound cold in my comments, and my heart goes out to all who have lost loved ones and of course to those that have lost their lives.
    But I was staying just inside france near the alps for a few months on a student exchange and that part of the world is about as flat as the top of a toblerone, what we call mountains here, they call bumps.

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    Mute Juju beans
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:54 PM

    I can never understand the need for, or benefit of including images of grieving family members in such a devastating and horrific situation such as this.

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    Mute cp
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    Mar 24th 2015, 7:53 PM

    I always think the exact same thing when I see those pictures after a tragedy.. It’s horrible.. How a photographer can take those pics is beyond me..

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    Mute China Photo Daily
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    Mar 25th 2015, 11:31 AM

    And the journal reprinting them…..

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    Mute fitzdoherty
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:53 AM

    I have absolutely everything crossed that the people on that plane are ok. As someone who is terrified of flying I feel sick to my stomach reading this. I couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying. Please please please let everyone be ok.

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    Mute Joe Bloggs
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:32 AM

    I’m sorry but you’re prayers are in vain.

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    Mute Shane McDonnell
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:55 AM

    So sad! Let’s hope they knew nothing

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    Mute mary carey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 4:32 PM

    An 8 minute descent tho……?? Harrowing… Sickening and harrowing.

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    Mute Barry Higgins
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:23 PM

    Is the posting of multiple pictures of distressed and upset relatives, really necessary?

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    Mute tina
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:01 AM

    Please god there are surviviors.. cant imagine what the families are going through waiting on news of loved ones

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    Mute Andrew Weir
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:31 PM

    I can’t understand the reference to the Concorde crash 15 yrs ago.
    Completely irrelevant.

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    Mute TeaRex
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    Mar 24th 2015, 5:55 PM

    My thoughts exactly.

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    Mute Barbara King
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:28 PM

    Stop showing pictures of bereaved family members. Leave them alone.

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    Mute liam lawless
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:18 AM

    Why do people red thumb condolence messages ..sad sad people

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:22 AM

    I don’t know, but why would you be looking at how’s many thumbs you get anyway?

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    Mute That's a paddlin'
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:35 AM

    If someone writes some religious nonsense such as ‘may god help them’ I will give a reb thumb tbh.

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:42 AM

    That’s a paddlin’, religious nonsense to you. Could you not adopt a live and let live approach.
    You don’t have to agree with someone to still be respectful of their view

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:09 PM

    That’s a paddlin so if someone says something at odds with your belief systems you can’t accept it ?

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    Mute That's a paddlin'
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:27 PM

    @tom I am not actually anti-religious. But when someone says ‘may god help them’ in a case like this. It just seems so illogical. Why didnt god stop the plane from crashing then? Why would he choose to help any of them now? I appriciate those who say such things have their hearts in the right place… but lets not completely detach from logic.

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:14 PM

    I don’t have the answers to your questions That’s a paddlin’, but there are assumptions being made by you around peoples beliefs. Personally I dislike the word “God” as it means such different things to so many. 1000 people in a room and someone says the word God, you’ll have 1000 different images/ideas around the word God. From an Interventional God, as was your image, to all kinds of religious and spiritual images. But to dismiss the belief system of anyone is disrespectful.
    God bless :)

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Mar 25th 2015, 5:26 AM

    Jesus wept.

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    Mute Abby Garcia
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    Mar 24th 2015, 10:54 AM

    Another site says it was flying from Barcelona. I can’t believe it…. Just so awful.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:01 AM

    This is very unusual.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:09 AM

    Germanwings are an excellent airline, owned by Lufthansa and the A320 is an exceptional plane. They fly this route all the time. This is a huge worry for the industry!!

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:15 AM

    Paul I think it is a little more than a “worry for the industry”
    It’s a disaster for many families

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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:15 AM

    Perhaps the industry could at wait a couple of hours before ghoulishly worrying about the business repercussions.

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    Mute Laura Doherty
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:15 AM

    That doesn’t mean that something can’t go wrong.

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:17 AM

    Just watching German news. Ex LH pilot saying this is almost unthinkable a believes it’s terror related. I know too early to tell. I’m just relaying German media.

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    Mute Charles McDonald
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:21 AM

    In most cases it’s not. Your forwarding unfounded rumours please stop.

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:26 AM

    Why Charles, Bob simply said what was reported as a possibility, a possibility that hadn’t even crossed my mind. An accident is bad enough but that would be so much worse in my mind anyway

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:30 AM

    Here is an image covering its final altitute and speed changes

    http://bt.mnocdn.no/external/drfront/images/456f34c53b6afb90b01282c5394192f6.jpg

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:31 AM

    At least it’s occured on land so the black box should be promptly recovered. Then we’ll get details.

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    Mute dublin spotter
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:32 AM

    That’s some descent indeed. Poor people.

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:37 AM

    Paul is that from Plane Finder or Flight Tracker ?

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:37 AM

    In the meantime traffic overflies the area as normal. This is routine and there are no problems with this, but it must be so disturbing for these flight crews knowing that some of their own are below.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:38 AM

    Boganity – FlightRadar24.

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    Mute Paul Somers
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:51 AM

    crap just looking at flightradar and seeing a small plane read Tramore – then it disappeared. How accurate is flight radar Paul?

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:52 AM

    Apparebtly the were planning to land in that Barcellonette place and then the plane suddenly descended

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:55 AM

    400 knots/460 MPH at impact according to that graph… RIP to all those souls lost today… tragic…

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    Mute Alan Seag
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:57 AM

    @ Paul

    Just looking at the graph you put up, the issue is clearly groundspeed as it is fluctuating so much, It cannot be indicated air speed as the speed should only change + or – minus 5 knots, especially at that altitude as your in coffin corner. The rate of decent based on altitude vs time indicates that the aircraft would have had an uncommanded nose pitch down due to, more than likely, the operational engineering bulletin 48 (OEB V-Alpha Prot) which affects the angle of attacks probes. In lehmans terms, two out of the three air data computers would presume the plane is stalling and the self preservation system on board the aircraft (normal law) would force the nose down in an attempt to recover from the stall (instrument error).

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:02 PM

    Paul according to that the aircraft maintained cruise speed of 400kts (740kph) but still dropped 38,000 ft in eight minutes while maintaining that speed…very strange.

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:08 PM

    Accidents are always gonna happen. Wether you’re taking a flight, driving somewhere etc there’ll always be that risk. The industry will survive & possibly learn from the cause, friends & families may never recover. RIP to the deceased & my thoughts are with their loved ones.

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:46 PM

    This is an incredibly safe A320 and does not just fall out of the sky. This was a catastrophic incident where something very major and rare has obviously happened. There are so many of these planes flying every day carrying so many people. Everyone involved (in the industry) with these planes will be concerned or worried by this incident and will want to know the facts as soon as possible to ensure that their A320′s will not be subject to the same – whatever that is.

    It is fairly obvious to all that the families, friends (and the Germanwings staff) will suffer traumatically because of the incident. I actually didn’t think it was neccessary to qualify my original comment as such, but it looks like I should have.

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:57 PM

    Paul it simply looked as your only concern was commercial

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    Mute Mark Gerard Lochlain
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:59 PM

    What are you trying to do here?? Don’t you have a job to be at?? Idiot

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    Mute Tom Kenny
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    Mar 24th 2015, 5:21 PM

    Who are you directing your bad manners at Mark ?

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Mar 25th 2015, 1:07 AM

    In other words no one has a clue what happened but they have to fill the news channels with drivel somehow. Talking heads being encouraged to talk sensational nonsense. Sky News is the worst, circling like vultures.

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 25th 2015, 4:41 AM

    Tom cynical as it may sound there’s a commercial world’s best practice in the airline industry for major crashes: Your brand car survive one catastrophic event ever ten years.

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    Mute SEAN LYNCH
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:21 AM

    Can’t think of a more terrifying way to go, poor souls .

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:58 AM

    According to the graph that is shown above, they were descending at 400 knots/460 MPH. Impact looks to have happened at that speed too. Survival is pretty remote I’m sad to say…

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:15 PM

    Pontius the aircraft trajectory is in a graph in the story above, it fell 38,000 feet with its engines running at full speed…not good.

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    Mute Sabrina Helena Coogan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:03 AM

    Devastating.. RIP!

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    Mute Pat Kavanagh
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:34 AM

    Who are the heartless b**s*ards going around disliking all of the comments offering condolences?
    I really cant understand what goes on in some peoples’ heads.

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Mar 25th 2015, 12:59 AM

    You are obviously new to this site. It comes with the territory. If Journal.ie had any wit they would get rid of the red thumbs. Sorry, must go, there a red thumb knocking at the front door.

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    Mute Paul Scully
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:04 AM

    My prayers are with all there loved ones at this sad time

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    Mute Neil Hennessy
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:22 PM

    I’m sure that’ll have a huge affect on them. Well done.

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    Mute Kool Tiger
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:42 PM

    On train to Gatwick to catch flight to Amsterdam, will defo be downing a few brandies prior to boarding after this terrible news

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:23 PM

    Keep Kool Tiger, you’ll be grand!

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    Mute Gis Bayertz
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    Mar 24th 2015, 7:41 PM

    Your pictures of families in distress are not to be excused……why does this have to put in the public like this FFS?

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    Mute Tír Eoghain Fenians
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:04 AM

    Shocking news

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:31 AM

    Absolutely horrible. I hope they didn’t suffer too much.

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    Mute Aging Lothario
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:37 AM

    God love them all, I wouldn’t be the greatest flyer in the world, but being on a plane knowing it’s going to crash is one of my worst nightmares which sadly probably came through for 140 people today.

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    Mute Denise Daly
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:10 AM

    Terrible news. Was there bad weather or a mechanical fault I wonder. Can’t speculate on loss of life so hoping for the best. Thinking of those concerned.

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    Mute Charles McDonald
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:23 AM

    Bad weather rarely takes down an aircraft and at 34000ft your above it. Obviously something catastrophic. We may know fast as they did put in a mayday.

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    Mute Denise Daly
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:36 AM

    Yeah it’s terrible to think they put out a distress call so they knew they were in trouble. Thinking of them now and their families. So many aircraft tragedies in the last few months. My friend lost his father-in-law in Taiwan crash last summer shortly after the mh370 disappearance.

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:07 PM

    No May Day Charles, just the transponder transmitting a distress code 7700 which was inputted by the flight crew. All that tells us is the aircraft was in some kind of emergency situation.

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    Mute Evelyn Hughes
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:08 AM

    This is very bad

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    Mute Aoife Byrne
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:50 AM

    Terribly sad news. Thoughts are with all the families. Really hoping for survivors, and that the rescue team can get to the site of the crash quickly for them.

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    Mute Rebecca Owens
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:10 PM

    There are reports that a moving body was seen at the crash site!! God I hope some survived!

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    Mute Adrian Stanley
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    Mar 24th 2015, 4:11 PM

    Where did you hear that Rebecca?

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    Mute Alan Seag
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:06 AM

    Sad news.

    If it is indeed a crash i wonder if it has any similarities with the recent air asia crash which was also an A320.

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    Mute Alan Cunningham
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:49 PM

    Yea completely agree. I also don’t understand why journalists think we need to see pictures of the families after they have just heard the news. Give them some privacy.

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:30 AM

    Although it shouldn’t really be an issue if maintained properly, but the aircraft was 24 years old…

    http://www.planespotters.net/Production_List/Airbus/A320/147,D-AIPX-Germanwings.php

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:34 AM

    All Active A320s are of the same age… Seems to be a dumping ground for old Lufthansa aircraft….

    http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Germanwings

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    Mute Andrew Weir
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:11 PM

    This isn’t some west African Mickey Mouse outfit flying 40yr old planes. It’s one of Europes oldest airlines flying a modern, safe aircraft. I’d be surprised if it was an age related or maintainence related issue but I suppose anything is possible.

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:13 PM

    Nothing wrong with the age of the aircraft, same fault could of easily happened with a much a newer model. The Lufthansa A320 fleet isn’t exactly ancient anyway as they have plenty of brand new models of the A320 & many more to be delivered

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:02 PM

    @Damian, this A320 was built in 1990 and delivered to Luthansa in 1991. Age (unless you are talking 30+ years) really has little to do with the reliability of modern jets. Airlines every 10 years usually update their jets’ interior (seating, avionics bay and cockpit). An aircraft can fly for 30-40 years, and yet 60-70% of its critical parts could be less than ten years old. Engines could be renewed multiple times over two decades. Modern aircraft are often still in production for more than two decades, let alone service. The 747 was launched in the 1960s, and Boeing still make the 747-800 50+ years later.

    This A320 had the latest AV bay and systems installed when it was switched from Lufthansa to Germanwings.

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:28 PM

    Thanks Mick. Yeah I’m well aware of aircraft maintenance and upgrades procedure over the years. There was no info to suggest that they had done this to hand so it might have been a factor until we knew better. In saying that there could have been some airframe structural issue. One expert was talking about a cabin breach in the cockpit with the crew losing consciousness as a possible scenario. We don’t know for sure. I think air incident investigation teams will have a very difficult job from the debris pictures that are floating about.

    To say that the Boeing 747-800 built today shares any technology with the first 747s is a bit disingenuous. As you mention, avionics and flight systems as well as materials used have come a long way since the 60s.

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    Mute Mick Rooney
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:48 PM

    Agree on the 747, and many aircraft in service for a long time; you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. A twenty year old aircraft can look identical to one off the production line but be completely different under the skin. That was my point.

    The cockpit breach is something being examined with MH370. An exploding oxygen bottle using a decompress and seriously maiming one or both crew members and taking out some of the wiring below on the left side of the AV bay.

    With this one, 9525, the descent was rapid but controlled. Something you would expect with a fire or decompress, but I can’t understand why no level off at 10,000ft. The ground proximity alert would have been screaming at them in the cockpit, yet they continued to descend. Locating the cockpit recorder is critical here.

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    Mute damian
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    Mar 25th 2015, 12:07 AM

    Yeah quite strange that there was no level out if it was a decompression scenario. Someone mentioned that it could have been the flight computer reacting to a stall scenario that tried to make the nose dive… If they were unconscious they couldn’t react etc. They’ve found one of the flight recorders anyway. Hopefully the data can be read.

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    Mute Charles Rex
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:15 AM
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    Mute Regis Biassala
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:41 PM

    I am sad for everyone and it break my heart to hear babies were onboard….#Life

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    Mute Tony Canning
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    Mar 24th 2015, 8:52 PM

    I will forever more measure thejournal in these contrasting approaches to reporting:

    Plane crash, while incredibly tragic, getting voyeurism like live feeds which now extend to about 20 presses of “PgDn”

    Israeli elections that could see a significant shift in geopolitics: 2 stories in 24 hours mostly concentrating on “This kind of irishman could be the next Israeli prime minister” to “This kind of irishman has been defeated” with zero analysis.

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    Mute Dust
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:27 PM

    I feel really bad for the families of all those in the plane crash

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    Mute David Hynes
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    Mar 24th 2015, 3:53 PM

    the plane seems to have flied at a constant speed but having a constant 45 degree angle of decent.
    looks like a deliberate decent. RIP

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    Mute Anthony Lang
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    Mar 24th 2015, 7:08 PM

    This is truly horrific. We can only feel compassion for the victims and for their surviving relatives and friends.

    I know very little about air safety and I think that it is far too early to hypothesise about the cause of this tragic crash.

    I am disturbed by what it known. It seems that the aircraft went into a very steep descent from just under 38,000 ft to under 8,000 ft in a period of about 9.32 AM and ending at about 9.40. The airplane’s descent was at a rate of 400 knots approximately throughout the entire period of descent.

    The angle of descent is such that the pilots and the passengers, if conscious, would have been fully aware of the descent, it would have been very noticeable with a significant sense of forward nose down showing. There is nothing to indicate sudden decompression or catastrophic failure of the fuselage or engines.

    No distress call was made.

    I speculate that one possible (conceivable) explanation is that the pilots were disabled, unconscious, or otherwise. That is pure speculation, of course, and it will require the experts to arrive at a cause. One black box has been recovered and the hopefully the other will soon be located. I just hope that all concerned might have been unconscious and not subject to the terror of such a long descent. Perhaps, mobile phones, especially smart phones and other devices may help. if passengers were conscious, and despite the steep descent, they would have been able to record but not transmit messages, if conscious. I just hope, for their sake, that they were all unconscious.

    Obviously the investigators will study everything available, reduce this down to a limited and very narrow range of possibilities and then conclude the cause, falling a further review.

    It looks likely, I think, that a probable cause will be concluded at quite an early stage.

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Mar 25th 2015, 12:54 AM

    May the Lord spare us from amateur aviation experts.

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 25th 2015, 4:54 AM

    Not really Ted its the digital age, information is now received in real time. The altitude and airspeed data for the entire flight, transmitted live by the Aircraft’s transponder, was published in graph form in the article above. We know what happened, look at the last 8 minutes of the flight, but we don’t know why yet.

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    Mute KevinMunster
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:27 AM

    Worst way to go.. Flying is not safe these days!

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    Mute Mrs Shalakalananaka
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:30 AM
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    Mute Jason
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:31 AM

    It’s still the safest mode of travel. Nothing is 100% safe.

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    Mute KevinMunster
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:54 AM

    Those 148 people wouldn’t say it’s very safe..

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:14 PM

    Flying is not safe? Ridiculous comment!

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:15 PM

    & how many millions of people will fly today & not encounter the smallest problem at all?

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    Mute Dave Meagher
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    Mar 24th 2015, 12:27 PM

    We live on a rock floating around in space that has a mass of 6,000,000,000,000,000 billion kg moving at 67,000 mph around a burning nuclear reactor. My point is nothing is really 100% safe or fail proof.

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    Mute Tordelback
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:40 PM

    The drive to the airport is the most dangerous part of any commercial flight, as has been documented again and again. One reason air crashes seem so awful is that they are so incredibly rare, compared to the daily tally of deaths on our roads that almost pass without note.

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    Mute Drew
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:52 PM

    Munster people obviously don’t see a lot of planes… I’m on a mostly long haul flight on average twice a week. It’s a way of lives for some of us.

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    Mute Unfortunately
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    Mar 24th 2015, 9:12 PM

    Don’t give me this BS that planes are safer than cars etc.

    In car I know what I am driving (technical condition) and I am driving. I don’t rely on other people’s actions and I’m not in the air.

    There are maybe less people dead during flights accidents than in car accidents, but cars are 10x safer.

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    Mute Larissa Nikolaus
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    Mar 24th 2015, 11:49 AM

    Well, so far no reports directly from the crash site, here’s to hope against hope that there will be survivors

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    Mute Garry O'Leary
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    Mar 24th 2015, 8:25 PM

    A note to the Journal.ie author – please bother to check your facts before reporting incorrect info. You’ve reported the plane being 25 yrs old when it is in fact only 24 yrs old !!! Sick of the Journals reporting getting sloppier and shoddier by the day !!

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    Mute Drew
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:50 PM

    This is going to hit Lufthansa hard…

    They will likely either need a bailout which is very politically difficult in Germany or to start selling assets. Swiss airlines would be the obvious high value disposal and Walsh and IAG were desperate to acquire it 6 years ago… There might be no more interest in Aer Lingus if Swiss looks likely to come up for sale…

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    Mute Paul Furey
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:12 PM

    No it won’t.

    Lufthansa is a huge multinational with so many subsideries and even if the incident was 100% the fault of Lufthansa/Germanwings, I’d say people would still keep flying with them.

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    Mute Drew
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:23 PM

    They’re entering a second cost cutting program in the last 5 years after the first failed. This time shedding 3,500 jobs.

    Revenue flat, issued a profit warning that it would fail to meet targets just last month.

    Already shut down half of lufthansa technic… Disposed of BMI, shut down all longhual not from Frankfurt or Munich and reallocated all the shorthaul to germanwings.

    Mass pilot strikes latest a week ago, cabin crew are quite angry as when the pilots strike they don’t fly, and half their salary is flight allowances.

    They are in terrible shape, the size of the company has no effect… In fact the bigger they are the harder they fall, and foreign subsidiaries are often more of a liability.

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    Mute Mark Nolan
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:29 PM

    How would acquiring Swiss give more power to IAG transatlantic? Finnair would be a good fit with their excellent connections to Asia & Oneworld ties. Swiss & their Star Alliance connections wouldn’t be worth it.

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    Mute Drew
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:43 PM

    Swiss would exit star Alliance and join Oneworld… That’s what killed the acquisition last time there was no appetite among the Swiss board for the costs of switching alliances.

    But that was a weaker BA… Now it has Iberia and what’s left of BMI behind it.

    Transatlantic is irrelevant… Ski and business out of Switzerland traffic is huge business. It could stem an underperforming european market for IAG.

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    Mute Rust Cohle
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:57 PM

    Clearly a False Flag

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    Mute Fay Fitzgerald
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    Mar 24th 2015, 6:55 PM

    Such a Very sad day… My, thought and prayers go out to all there Friends & Families!..

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    Mute HRH The Brummie
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    Mar 24th 2015, 9:57 PM

    What I find strange is a plane crashes, but there is no apparent fire on the ground. Did it have fuel ? Just an observation. May they rest in peace.

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    Mute ted hagan
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    Mar 25th 2015, 1:02 AM

    Well done Journal.ie. Good coverage of this horrible tragedy. But you really should ditch the red thumbs. Or at least debate it.

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    Mute Rory Walshe
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    Mar 24th 2015, 1:07 PM

    Which airline did the plane belong to?

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    Mute Bob Beaman
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    Mar 24th 2015, 2:25 PM

    Is that… are you…. wtf?

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    Mute Rory Walshe
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    Mar 24th 2015, 4:58 PM

    Apologies, my hastily written comment has caused some offence obviously. I wrote it while standing on a roof in work and when the initial article didn’t mention what airline was involved. It’s a terrible tragedy, no doubt about it. What the families are going through is horrendous.

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    Mute Anthony Lang
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    Mar 25th 2015, 12:28 AM

    It seems that the theory of unconsciousness is unlikely, because the place would have remained on its flight path. Explosive decompression has been concluded as unlikely and it seems that the plane was intact up to the moment of impact.

    The plane descended steeply and fast but not as fast as if there had been a total loss of control.

    Apparently, the absence of a distress call is regarded as insignificant as the focus of the pilots would have been on a desperate attempt to recover control.

    Was there mechanical/hydraulic failure? Was there a final levelling out just prior to the crash? Was it a controlled descent? If so, why? Was it an emergency move?

    The partial comfort is that aviation experts are saying that there is a lot of data available and there is a high probability of a reliable explanation of the cause.,

    It seems that the event occurred during the safest phase of the flight, mid flight or beyond, not at take off or landing.

    RTE reported that the “plane fell out of the sky” but the speed and flight descent contradict this description.

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    Mute David Fitzgerald
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    Mar 25th 2015, 1:52 AM

    What’s a distress single?

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    Mute Boganity
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    Mar 25th 2015, 4:45 AM

    It’s when an aircraft’s transponder transmits the numbers “7700″, that means it’s in some kind of emergency situation that is putting the aircraft in danger.

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    Mute goo
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    Mar 24th 2015, 7:24 PM

    R.I.P shocking accident hope it’s not anything else !

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    Mute Peter Murphy
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    Mar 25th 2015, 12:06 AM

    Really heart breaking news. RIP to the crew and passengers may they rest in peace.

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    Mute Peter Martin
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    Mar 25th 2015, 10:43 PM

    The pilots had eight minutes from the time of the initial loss of altitude to the point of impact and said nothing during this time. Either they were unconscious, due to lack of oxygen resulting from de-pressurisation, or on the other hand, an attack of some kind from a third party. We will probably know fairly soon. The loss of life is horrendous. My sympathies to anyone reading this who may have been a friend or a family member of anyone lost in this catastrophe.

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