Latest updates |
Crash details |
Flight: Airbus A320 | |
Flight number: 4U 9525 | |
Company: Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline | |
Planned route: Barcelona to Dusseldorf | |
On board: 144 passengers and 6 crew members, no survivors expected ●It said 67 of the passengers were German. ●A high school class of 16 German students and two teachers were onboard the flight, confirmed Germanwings. ●Spain's deputy prime minister said 45 passengers had Spanish names. ●Two Australians were among the 150, Australia confirmed. ●A Danish citizen was on board the flight, loca media reported. ●At least one Belgian was killed, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed to Xinhua. ●The Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that there were two Japanese aboard the flight. ●Moroccan official media said that there were two Moroccans aboard the Germanwings flight. The couple named Mohamed Tehrioui, 24 years old, and Asmae Ouahoud El Allaoui, 23, had just celebrated their wedding recently in Barcelona and were in honey moon, it added. ●Three Americans were on board the crashed flight, the State Department said. ●There are no Chinese passengers onboard the flight, "as far as we know today", said Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann. | |
Process of the crash (source: Daily Mail) | |
Response |
Lufthansa/Germanwings |
●Germanwings confirmed that its flight 4U9525 had an "accident" over French Alps with 150 people on board. ●Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr spoke of a "dark day" for the airline. ●German airlines have decided to introduce new cockpit rules following the Germanwings plane crash, German Aviation Association BDL said on Friday. |
China |
●China's civil aviation authorities have again required that at least two crew members are in the cockpit of a flying civil plane at any given time, after Tuesday's deadly Germanwings plane crash. |
European Aviation Safety Agency |
●European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on March 27 issued a recommendation that at least two crew members should be in the cockpit at all times of flight. |
New Zealand |
●Passenger jets operating in New Zealand must have at least two people in the cockpit at all times, New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced on March 27, after reviewing its rules in light of the Germanwings air crash in the French Alps. |
Austria |
●Austria's air authority on March 27 required the country's national airlines to always have two pilots in cockpit during a flight. |
France |
●French President Francois Hollande said he believed none of those on board the A320 had survived. |
Germany |
●Germany's Angela Merkel will travel to the crash site. She called the crash a shock which had plunged Germany, France and Spain into "deep mourning." ●A crisis team was set up by German Foreign Ministry to deal with a plane crash of German budget airline Germanwings. |
Spain |
●Spanish King Felipe VI, who is on a state visit to France, announced he decided to cancel his visit due to the crash of Germanwings flight 4U9525. ●Spain's Deputy Prime Minister, Soraya Saenz de Santamaria confirmed in a press conference that the country would hold three days of official mourning for the 150 victims. |
US |
●The White House said that no signs had emerged about terrorism linked to the crash of 4U9525. |
Budget airlines controversy |
Statistics show that there are over 170 budget airlines in the world. Budget airlines make up around 30 percent of the US and European airline markets and about 20 percent in the Asia-Pacific region. | |||
Media comments: | |||
●France-based Le Figaro: Almost all budget airlines suffer from the same issues: low safety standards, relatively undertrained employees and older aircraft ●China Business View: There is no evidence to prove that budget airlines suffer from low safety standards. For example, Australia’s low-cost airline Jetstar was awarded the highest rating of seven stars from Airlineratings.com. Germanwings received six stars. ●Chinanews.com: The aircraft is the oldest among the Airbus A320 jets currently in operation, but European airlines, such as Germanwings, place great importance on maintenance. | |||
How to reduce the cost? | |||
●Overhead: Fleets of budget carriers usually have limited types of aircraft, and often purchase them in large numbers at a discount. Total flight time requirements for pilots is shortened, while logistics and maintenance are relatively simplified. ●Airport fees: Budget airlines save on fees by avoiding service to major airports. Instead, many opt for smaller airports and shuttling passengers on the ground. ●Flight cost: Normally budget airlines cut on cleaning cabins, reduce stand-by time and increase flight frequency. Companies also save expenses by cutting in-flight meals, drinks, newspapers and magazines. | |||
Previous budget airlines crashes | |||
Time | Airline | Place | Deaths |
2014/12/18 | Air Asina | Java Sea | 162 |
2007/09/16 | One-Two-Go Airlines | Phuket International Airport | 89 |
2005/08/16 | West Caribbean Airways | Venezuela | 160 |
2005/08/14 | Helios Airways | Northen Greece | 121 |
About the A320 |
The Airbus A320 series is the most popular single-aisle commercial jets and widely operated aircraft in the world. As of February 2015, a total 6194 planes are in service and 11,537 planes are on order. | |||
Previous A320 crashes | |||
Time | Airline | Place | Death(s) |
2014/12/28 | AirAsia | Java Sea | 162 |
2010/7/28 | Airblue | Near Islamabad | 152 |
2009/1/15 | US Airways | In the Hudson River near midtown Manhattan | 0 |
2007/7/17 | TAM Linhas AŽreas | Congohas Airport in São Paulo | 198 |
2006/5/3 | Armavia Airlines | Near Sochi, Russia | 113 |