Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Germanwings tweets news of Airbus A320 crash in French Alps: Airline says it has only 'recently become aware of media reports'

Plane was thought to be carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew

Heather Saul
Tuesday 24 March 2015 08:15 EDT
Comments
(Creative Commons)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The airline Germanwings said it had "no confirmed information" and had only "recently become aware of media reports" just after news broke that one of its Airbus passenger planes with around 148 people on board had crashed in the French Alps.

“As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately.

The airline directed people to a link for further updates but the link did not work.

Airbus also issued a statement on Twitter saying it was "aware of the media reports" surrounding the crash.

Germanwings is a subsidiary of the German Lufthansa Group airline. Lufthansa said it could not provide any information on what had actually happened to the plane in the lead-up to the crash either. A message from chief Carsten Spohr posted shortly after read: "We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew."

Germanwings later said it was aware of reports that one of its planes had crashed in the French Alps with 148 people on board. It is thought the plane was carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in