Helicopters are trying to reach the crash site in remote mountains
A Germanwings plane carrying 150 people has crashed in the French Alps on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
The Airbus A320 - flight 4U 9525 - went down between Digne and Barcelonnette. There are no survivors, officials say.
The plane crashed after an eight-minute descent, an official said. The cause of the crash is not known and the plane did not send out a distress signal.
The dead are believed to include 16 German schoolchildren. French and German leaders have expressed shock.
"This is the hour in which we all feel deep sorrow," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters, adding that she was planning to travel to the crash site.
A rescue helicopter has reportedly reached the site of the crash, in a remote mountain area.
Gilbert Sauvan, a local council official, told Les Echos newspaper that the plane had "disintegrated".
"The largest debris is the size of a car," he said.
French Alps crash: Live updates
What we know so far
German schoolchildren 'probably on flight'
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Media caption This map from Flightradar24 shows the plane's route
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Media caption Angela Merkel: "This is a time and an hour of great sorrow and grief"
The passengers included a German school class on its way back from an exchange trip.
Sandrine Boisse, a tourism official from the ski resort of Pra Loup, told the BBC that she had heard a strange noise in the mountains at around 11:00 (10:00 GMT).
"At first we thought it was on the ski slopes, an avalanche, but it wasn't the same noise," she said. "I think it was the noise of when a plane goes very quickly down."
The plane began descending one minute after reaching its cruising height and continued to lose altitude for eight minutes, Germanwings managing director Thomas Winkelmann told reporters.
He said the aircraft lost contact with French air traffic controllers at 10:53 at an altitude of about 6,000 feet.
The relatives of passengers aboard the flight receive a police escort at Barcelona airport
News of the crash was also greeted with shock at Duesseldorf airport
The plane did not send out a distress signal, officials said. Earlier reports of a distress call, quoting the French interior ministry, referred to a message from controllers on the ground.
The White House has said there is no evidence so far of a terror attack.
"There is no indication of a nexus to terrorism at this time," National Security Council spokesman Bernadette Meehan told Fox News.
Analysis: Nigel Cassidy, BBC's Europe business reporter
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.
The plan was to phase out the Germanwings brand and replace it with Eurowings.
There has been a longstanding dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union over early retirement. Pilots went on strike for three days around this time last year.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he had sent Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the scene and a ministerial crisis cell had been set up to co-ordinate the incident.
The interior ministry said debris had been located at an altitude of 2,000m (6,500ft).
Spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told BFM TV that it would be "an extremely long and extremely difficult'' search-and-rescue operation because of the remote location.
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.
The Airbus A320 is a single-aisle passenger jet popular for short and medium-haul flights.
Source:bbc
Helicopters are trying to reach the crash site in remote mountains
A Germanwings plane carrying 150 people has crashed in the French Alps on its way from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
The Airbus A320 - flight 4U 9525 - went down between Digne and Barcelonnette. There are no survivors, officials say.
The plane crashed after an eight-minute descent, an official said. The cause of the crash is not known and the plane did not send out a distress signal.
The dead are believed to include 16 German schoolchildren. French and German leaders have expressed shock.
"This is the hour in which we all feel deep sorrow," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters, adding that she was planning to travel to the crash site.
A rescue helicopter has reportedly reached the site of the crash, in a remote mountain area.
Gilbert Sauvan, a local council official, told Les Echos newspaper that the plane had "disintegrated".
"The largest debris is the size of a car," he said.
French Alps crash: Live updates
What we know so far
German schoolchildren 'probably on flight'
Download Flash Player now
You need to install Flash Player to play this content.
Media caption This map from Flightradar24 shows the plane's route
Download Flash Player now
You need to install Flash Player to play this content.
Media caption Angela Merkel: "This is a time and an hour of great sorrow and grief"
The passengers included a German school class on its way back from an exchange trip.
Sandrine Boisse, a tourism official from the ski resort of Pra Loup, told the BBC that she had heard a strange noise in the mountains at around 11:00 (10:00 GMT).
"At first we thought it was on the ski slopes, an avalanche, but it wasn't the same noise," she said. "I think it was the noise of when a plane goes very quickly down."
The plane began descending one minute after reaching its cruising height and continued to lose altitude for eight minutes, Germanwings managing director Thomas Winkelmann told reporters.
He said the aircraft lost contact with French air traffic controllers at 10:53 at an altitude of about 6,000 feet.
The relatives of passengers aboard the flight receive a police escort at Barcelona airport
News of the crash was also greeted with shock at Duesseldorf airport
The plane did not send out a distress signal, officials said. Earlier reports of a distress call, quoting the French interior ministry, referred to a message from controllers on the ground.
The White House has said there is no evidence so far of a terror attack.
"There is no indication of a nexus to terrorism at this time," National Security Council spokesman Bernadette Meehan told Fox News.
Analysis: Nigel Cassidy, BBC's Europe business reporter
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.
The plan was to phase out the Germanwings brand and replace it with Eurowings.
There has been a longstanding dispute with the Vereinigung Cockpit union over early retirement. Pilots went on strike for three days around this time last year.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he had sent Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the scene and a ministerial crisis cell had been set up to co-ordinate the incident.
The interior ministry said debris had been located at an altitude of 2,000m (6,500ft).
Spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet told BFM TV that it would be "an extremely long and extremely difficult'' search-and-rescue operation because of the remote location.
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.
The Airbus A320 is a single-aisle passenger jet popular for short and medium-haul flights.
Source:bbc
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