Airbus A320 Plane crashes in the Alps

[Caged Great]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe...e=news_central

It was travelling from Spain to Germany before crashing into the mountains. No details, 142 + 6 crew.

[Regorium]

Yikes. I hope there are some survivors.

[ken0042]

France plane crash: No survivors expected, French President says

[burn_this_city]

Sounds like the debris field covers 2km and is 2000m high in the mountains.

[Regulator75]

Too soon for an Alive reference?

[DoubleK]

Very sad.

[CaptainCrunch]

I heard it fell 14,000 feet in about 6 minutes when I was driving to work.

those poor people. What a horrible and helpless way to die.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I heard it fell 14,000 feet in about 6 minutes when I was driving to work.

those poor people. What a horrible and helpless way to die.

6 minutes is a long time. Their descent profile was very close to normal descent rates for that airframe, so that in itself isn't considered outside the norm. What precipitated that descent is the real question.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Ducay

6 minutes is a long time. Their descent profile was very close to normal descent rates for that airframe, so that in itself isn't considered outside the norm. What precipitated that descent is the real question.

Just reading the links, they speculated that the descent at that rate was quite possibly controlled by the pilot... possibly to look for a place to land.

If the debris field is as spread out as they are saying, it almost sounds like they may have been flying low to try and find a flat area to make an emergency landing, but clipped a mountain and then ripped apart.

Just complete speculation on my part.

[skudr248]

Flew out of Nice, France airport all the time when living there few years ago, flying through the Alps was always a very bumpy ride, really wonder what brought them down

[Madman]

BBC Breaking News @BBCBreaking
Helicopter lands near #Germanwings crash site & finds no survivors; "the plane is disintegrated," says French PM

BBC Coverage:
http://www.bbc.com/news/live/32030778

[crazy_eoj]

Terrible news and so sorry for the families of these victims.

In the BBC article it says that the plane that crashed was 24 years old. That seems old to me but I have no real point of reference.

Can anyone provide some context as to the average age of planes in modern fleets or the life expectancy of these planes in general?

[MRCboicgy]

Here are a few of the best twitters to follow in situations like this:

https://twitter.com/jonostrower
https://twitter.com/thatjohn
https://twitter.com/AirlineFlyer
https://twitter.com/AirlineReporter

As for the age:
John Walton @thatjohn · #4U9525 background: No, 21 years is not old for an aircraft that has been maintained by a respectable outfit like Lufthansa group.



Jason Rabinowitz @AirlineFlyer
For those seeing the age of the #4U9525 A320, it isn’t uncommon. Delta’s oldest A320 is almost 25 years old. AA’s oldest A320 is nearly 26.

[KelVarnsen]

As the above post stated, its not old for well maintained aircraft. The A320's that the Calgary Flames and other NHL teams fly on were all built in 1991.

[CroFlames]

Sad and terrifying to try and imagine what the passengers and crew were going through during the event.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Ducay

6 minutes is a long time. Their descent profile was very close to normal descent rates for that airframe, so that in itself isn't considered outside the norm. What precipitated that descent is the real question.

thanks for this. I wasn't pointing out to a crash decent, I honestly don't know what the rates are for an airliner. in terms of decent. I guess I always thought that it was slower then that because it always seems that descents are a lot slower then that when I fly.

So I guess my next question is what would cause a commercial pilot to go looking for a flat landing zone?

If this is a normal descent then was this a non emergency that became an emergency?

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by KelVarnsen

As the above post stated, its not old for well maintained aircraft. The A320's that the Calgary Flames and other NHL teams fly on were all built in 1991.

On CNN they reported that the airline was rated 7/7 in terms of aircraft maintenance and had a very strong safety record.

these plans also go through refurbishes quite often.

[FlamesAddiction]

I always felt safer on older planes because you know that they are tried and tested. I was on a flight a while ago where they mentioned we were on the newest plane of the fleet and it actually made me feel more uneasy.

[Stealth22]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

thanks for this. I wasn't pointing out to a crash decent, I honestly don't know what the rates are for an airliner. in terms of decent. I guess I always thought that it was slower then that because it always seems that descents are a lot slower then that when I fly.

So I guess my next question is what would cause a commercial pilot to go looking for a flat landing zone?

If this is a normal descent then was this a non emergency that became an emergency?

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

On CNN they reported that the airline was rated 7/7 in terms of aircraft maintenance and had a very strong safety record.

these plans also go through refurbishes quite often.

Yeah, the airline is owned by the Lufthansa group. They are not a random, no frills low cost carrier. This aircraft would have been maintained extremely well.

That being said, you can't rule anything out, especially at such an early stage of the investigation. Finding both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be the first objective for investigators. The scene is hard to get to, but its not like they need to send divers down to the ocean floor to find the things.

As for the crash itself, if the pilot was indeed looking for a flat spot to set the plane down, in my mind, that can only mean that he was doing so in a last-ditch attempt to save all of the lives on board.

Any pilot in that situation will attempt to get to the closest airport if at all possible. Trying to set an aircraft down on anything but a runway is extremely dangerous at the best of times, even in an open field in the middle of a clear day in July. We're talking about the French Alps, where there's nothing but rocks, trees, and cliffs. Even if you can find a flat spot that's big enough to land on, you need to be able to aim for that spot with exact precision, or you'll fly straight into the side of the mountain, or worse, right off the side of a cliff.

Even if you manage to land, what are the odds that you can set down at 150 mph and come to a stop without the aircraft breaking apart and bursting into flames?

Tragic situation...the cause could be almost anything. Weather, mechanical failure (although the plane should have been well maintained), etc. Regardless, it was serious enough that the pilot couldn't make a turn for the closest airport, or even make a distress call. ATC lost all radio contact, and we now know that the pilot was looking for the most flat spot he could find in the middle of a mountain range.

[Language]

Those poor people, very sad. It's always heart breaking in these wreckages to see luggage strewn out along the crash site. Anticipated trips that will never be completed. May they RIP.