Summary

  • A Germanwings Airbus A320 has crashed in the French Alps near Digne, with 150 people on board

  • Flight 4U 9525 was travelling between Barcelona and Duesseldorf

  • Passengers believed to include 67 Germans and 45 Spanish citizens

  • French President Francois Hollande said he believed none of those on board had survived

  • Sixteen German students on a Spanish exchange trip on flight

  • Opera singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner also on board

  • Search-and-rescue teams reach the crash site at Meolans-Revels

  • Cologne-based Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by Lufthansa

Live Reporting

Saira Asher, Claire Brennan, Alex Kleiderman, Caroline McClatchey, Josephine McDermott and Thom Poole

  1. A few more details about the crash location. France's DGAC aviation authority confirmed the A320 crashed near the town of Barcelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north of Nice. The prime minister's office said the crash happened in Meolans-Revel, a remote commune in the foothills of the French Alps.

  2. The BBC's Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill says there is a great deal of shock in Germany. "Germanwings is a well known company here."

  3. Airbus says on its website that that an A320 family aircraft takes off or lands every 2.5 seconds of every day. It is used by many airlines including low-cost carriers. The planes are made in Toulouse, France, Hamburg, Germany, and Tianjin, China.

  4. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he had sent Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve to the scene and a ministerial crisis cell to co-ordinate the incident had been set up.

  5. According to sources quoted by AFP news agency. plane had issued a distress call at 10:47 (09:47 GMT).

  6. La Provence

    tweets: Debris located near Barcelonnette

  7. The plane had taken off from Barcelona airport at 0855 GMT, Spain's airport operator Aena said. A spokeswoman declined to give any more detail about the plane or its passengers.

  8. Germanwings Airbus 320AFP

    This photograph taken in August 2014 at Berlin"s Tegel airport shows a Germanwings Airbus 320 aircraft.

  9. The Germanwings website is currently not available.

  10. Airbus

    tweets: "We are aware of the media reports. All efforts are now going towards assessing the situation. We will provide further information as soon as available."

  11. Cologne-based Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by giant carrier Lufthansa.

  12. Francois HollandeAPTN

    The French government has activated a ministerial crisis cell to help coordinate the aftermath of the crash, according to President Hollande

  13. Map of plane routeFLIGHTRADAR

    This map taken from the flight tracking website Flightradar indicates the route the plane was taking

  14. BBC News transport correspondent Richard Westcott reports the Planefinder.net website suggests the crashed aircraft was registered 24 years ago.

  15. French President Francois Hollande has been responding to news of the crash. He says the area where the plane went down is very difficult to access.

  16. Germanwings tweeted: "We have recently become aware of media reports speculating on an incident though we still do not have any own confirmed information. As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately."

  17. The crash is thought to involve a Barcelona to Dusseldorf flight.

  18. The plane from German low-cost airline Germanwings, is reported to have been carrying 142 people, four cabin crew and two pilots.

  19. Welcome to BBC coverage of reports an Airbus A320 has crashed in the French Alps near Digne, with 148 people on board.