Paris/Berlin, March 25: A probe was launched on Wednesday into the crash of an Airbus A320 of a German budget airline with 150 people on board in southern France while flying from Spain’s Barcelo to Germany’s Dusseldorf.
“At least some information would be recovered after the examition of the damaged cockpit voice recorder, which records conversations and noises in the cockpit,” The Local reported, citing French Interior Minister Berrd Cazeneuve speaking to French radio RTL. The cockpit voice recorder was recovered on Tuesday whereas the search for the second black box is still continuing.
Transport Minister Alain Vidalies said that if voices have been recorded, the investigation would proceed “fairly quickly”.
“After that, if we have to alyse the sounds, that’s a job that will take several weeks, but it’s a job that can offer us some explations,” Vidalies added.
Earlier on Wednesday, search and rescue operations resumed at the crash site after it was halted late Tuesday night due to bad weather conditions.
A number of Germanwings pilots refused to fly, saying they were mourning the victims of the ill-fated aircraft, Deutsche Welle reported.
In a series of tweets, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Germanwings and Lufthansa would do everything in their power to help victims’ relatives in an “uncomplicated and timely manner”.
“Seeing the site of the accident was harrowing. We are in deep mourning. Our thoughts are with the relatives of the victims,” he tweeted.
One flight, serving the same route as the crashed plane, was cancelled. There is a team of 30 psychologists on hand, and a makeshift altar has been set up in memory of the 150 who died.
Media reports indicated that the A320 jetliner was one of the oldest in Germanwings’ fleet and had served for over 24 years. It had flown to Barcelo from Duesseldorf earlier on Tuesday before meeting with the accident on the return flight.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel along with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and French President Francois Hollande will visit the crash site later in the day. (IANS)