Passenger plane crashes in French Alps (Airbus A320 - 148 Onboard?)

The Local - Fr ^ | 03/24/2015 | Oliver Gee

[Drago]

"An Airbus A320 has crashed in the southern French Alps, a security source has said." & "A Germanwings A320 has crashed in the southern French Alps, according to security sources."

[BureaucratusMaximus]

Just throwing this out there...with all the fly by wire talk out there; is the system that is used connected to any external networks?

(I.e. can remote access be obtained?)

[KevinB]

deliberately flown into the alps. muslims most likely.

If so, why would the muzzies not advertise that? Isn't the whole point of terrorism to terrorize people?

[maggief]

BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking 5m5 minutes ago

Helicopter lands near #Germanwings crash site & finds no survivors; “the plane is disintegrated,” says French PM http://bbc.in/1LSgxjV

[maggief]

#Germanwings crash: “plane is disintegrated, the largest debris is the size of a car,” a local councillor tells @LesEchos

[PghBaldy]

Now Fox is saying there was NO distress call, that it came from the ATC

[maggief]

BREAKING:

French Aviation Authority DGAC says #Germanwings plane did not issue distress call prior to disintegration.

[maggief]

Guardian:

Meteorologist Eric Leister, from AccuWeather.com, has warned that conditions in the region where the search for the plane is ongoing are expected to worsen in coming hours.

He said:

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.

[MortMan]

I do not know of any fly-by-wire system that allows external access (access from outside the plane). I’m in the airplane certification business.

[AppyPappy]

I’m amazed we heard nothing from the crew. Massive structural damage to the cockpit?

[Dog]

Something went boom..

[Erik Latranyi]

Fly by wire is safer than mechanical systems.

But, because fly by wire is not understood well, it is feared.

This crap happens every time an airliner goes down from the same bunch of mental midgets.

[tcrlaf]

To me, this sounds like a gradual depressurization at altitude.
Did someone put the plane into a steep dive using the autopilot, realizing something was wrong, before passing out?
The no Mayday part is the most curious.

[MeganC]

I do not know of any fly-by-wire system that allows external access (access from outside the plane).

Betcha the NSA does.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SKY News: President of a local French council, Gilbert Sauvan, says debris is spread over 100-200 meters (110-220 yards). DGAC - controllers declared a distress phase for the flight.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

BBC: There was some speculation in German media that a computer glitch caused by frozen sensors could have forced the plane into a steep dive. However, Germanwings has confirmed the A320’s computer systems had been updated and do not believe this could be a cause.

[tcrlaf]

Hypoxia at altitude is REALLY insidious, and hard to detect until it’s too late

This sounds like a steep, but CONTROLLED descent, that makes me think it was autopilot-initiated..

[tcrlaf]

First Crash-site pic

http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-provence/2015/03/24/un-a320-s-ecrase-dans-la-zone-de-barcelonnette

Seems to be spread out, but there is nothing to give any scale to the pic.

[George from New England]

Was it a scheduled ‘tour’ decent for the passengers to view the Alps, close up?

Sort of like the fatal Italian cruise line back a few years.
Captain diverted for the pleasure of some passengers there too.

[tcrlaf]

Somebody at CNN is reading this thread.

They just mentioned gradual depressurization at altitude.

[Oldeconomybuyer]

SKY News: US National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan has issued a statement saying there is no indication the crash was the result of terrorism. More will be known once the black boxes are located.

(America is useless)