An Airbus A320 operated by the airline Germanwings went into an eight-minute descent before crashing in southern France on Tuesday, according to airline officials.
Speaking at a news conference hours after the crash, Germanwings CEO Thomas Winkelmann said it was not yet clear whether it was a "deliberate or unintentional loss of height," though he added that the plane was briefly inspected Monday and the pilot had more than 6,000 hours of flying experience. "We have to investigate properly with all the professionals what went wrong" before determining a cause, he said.
All 150 people on board — 144 passengers and six crew members — are presumed dead.
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