Crowds assembled in France and Germany to commemorate ten years since a Lufthansa aircraft was intentionally crashed into a mountain in France, resulting in the tragic deaths of all 150 people aboard.
On Monday, French, German, and Spanish officials placed wreaths at the location where an incident occurred in 2015.
an airline disaster that stunned the continent,
As families and friends of the victims maintained a moment of silence at 10:41 a.m. (0941 GMT), precisely ten years following the crash of Germanwings Flight 4U 9525 traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Düsseldorf, Germany, which occurred in Le Vernet, France, resulting in the deaths of all 144 passengers and six crew members aboard.
Altogether, victims from 20 distinct nations perished in the event, with the majority being from Germany (72) and Spain (50).
GermanwINGS was a budget offshoot of Lufthansa, with Lufthansa’s CEO Carsten SPHOR present in Le Vernet on Monday. He stated his thoughts on the tragic occurrence during this event.
still haunts the company
.
The impact of the GermanwINGS crash was intensified by the horrifying realization that it was intentional.
The
The impact of the news about the accident was intensified.
due to the terror induced by the realization that investigators speculated
the co-pilot, battling with depression
, had
deliberately slammed the aircraft into a mountain slope
After the pilot exited the cockpit to use the restroom,
Upon his return, the pilot discovered that the co-pilot had locked him out of the cockpit and had started an automatic descent sequence for the Airbus A320.
The sound of banging is captured in the cockpit voice recordings as the pilot frantically tries to force entry into the cockpit. The copilot remains unresponsive to calls from air traffic control, with just their breath audible.
Germanwings tragedy: enduring pain and unresolved questions a decade later
Ceremonies were also held in Barcelona and Dusseldorf, as well as in the western
The German city of Haltern am See
, which was home to 16 exchange students and two teachers who lost their lives during their flight back from Spain.
The mayor of Haltern, Andreas Stegemann, informed DPA News Agency, “We continue to feel this sense of disbelief, deep empathy from everyone towards the affected families, and we’re still asking ourselves why this occurred. The Germanwings tragedy remains an enduring chapter in our city’s history.”
Bertrand Bartolini, who served as the mayor of Le Vernet during the incident, mentioned that upon arriving at the scene to assess the situation, he encountered “an absolutely horrifying location,” and went on to say, “There were scenes there that I won’t ever be capable of discussing.”
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
Author: Jon Shelton (with AFP, dpa)