Germanwings: Plane made long, unexplained descent before crash
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.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
A free daily email with the day’s biggest news and analysis – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.
Explore your latest briefing
-
-
talking pointsAfter Pike disaster, is it time to rethink death penalty? -
QUOTE OF THE DAY‘What it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls’ sports.’
-
the explainerJustice Dept. launches largest-ever effort to strip citizenship
-
Explore your latest briefing
-
-
talking pointsAfter Pike disaster, is it time to rethink death penalty? -
QUOTE OF THE DAY‘What it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls’ sports.’
-
the explainerJustice Dept. launches largest-ever effort to strip citizenship
-