SEYNE-LES-ALPES, France (AP) – Helicopters surveying the scattered debris of a German jetliner lifted off at daybreak on Wednesday as investigators sought clues in the wreckage and the black box from the plane that lost radio contact, went into a dive and slammed into the Alpine mountainside. All 150 aboard were believed dead.
Victims on the flight from Spain to Germany included two babies, two opera singers, an Australian mother and her adult son vacationing together, and 16 German high school students and their teachers returning from an exchange trip to Spain.
While investigators searched through debris from Flight 9525 on steep and desolate slopes, families across Europe and beyond reeled in shock. French authorities set up a chapel in a gymnasium as a space to mourn.
“The site is a picture of horror. The grief of the families and friends is immeasurable,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after being flown over the crash scene. “We must now stand together. We are united in our great grief.”
Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for France’s Interior Ministry, says investigators are working to recover information from the black box retrieved from the scene of the crash. Brandet told French network iTele that recovery crews are expected to reach the site where the Germanwings went down sometimes Wednesday morning.