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Germanwings crash: Alpine hamlet prepares to welcome distraught families Germanwings crash: Alpine hamlet prepares to welcome grieving families
(35 minutes later)
In Le Vernet, a tiny hamlet of mountain homes that is the nearest inhabited point to the crash site of the Germanwings flight 4U9525, villagers were preparing for the arrival of families wanting to contemplate the Alpine landscape where their loved ones died. In Le Vernet, the nearest inhabited point to the crash site of the Germanwings flight 4U9525, villagers were preparing for the arrival of families wanting to contemplate the landscape where their loved ones died.
From a field in front of a holiday centre, locals came to watch gendarme helicopters fly over snow-capped peaks and beyond into the area where the debris lay. The crash site, tucked behind the mountain peaks, is not visible except from helicopters. From a field in front of a holiday centre, locals came to watch gendarme helicopters fly over snow-capped peaks and beyond into the area where the debris lay. The crash site, tucked behind the peaks, is not visible except from helicopters.
This field, looking up on to the staggering view of snowy mountain tops, is the closest families will be able to get to the site of the tragedy, where remains were still being located scattered across the craggy rock-face. This field, looking up on to the staggering view of snowy mountaintops, is the closest families will be able to get to the site of the tragedy, where remains were still being located scattered across the craggy rock-face.
The Airbus 320 plane, flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, crashed in the southern French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 on board. According to two separate reports, evidence from a cockpit voice recorder recovered from plane suggests that one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in. The Airbus 320, flying from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, crashed in the southern French Alps on Tuesday, killing all 150 on board. According to two separate reports, evidence from a cockpit voice recorder recovered from plane suggests that one pilot left the cockpit before the plane’s descent and was unable to get back in.
Jean-Louis Bietrix, a mountain guide and local councillor in nearby Prads-Haute-Bléone, had guided the first mountain gendarme teams to the crash site shortly after the flight went down on Tuesday. Jean-Louis Bietrix, a mountain guide and councillor in nearby Prads-Haute-Bléone, had guided the first mountain gendarme teams to the crash site shortly after the flight went down on Tuesday.
“It’s a very difficult, steep terrain of rock with no trees and no paths,” he said. “It’s a very difficult, steep terrain of rock with no trees and no paths,” he said. “I saw debris scattered over a wide area, small fragments of the plane, each no bigger than a book. I was shocked that there was so little left.”
“I saw debris scattered over a wide area, small fragments of the plane, each no bigger than a book. I was shocked that there was so little left.” He said a fellow councillor in Prads-Haute-Bléone , one of only two locals to have seen the plane flying dangerously low before the crash, had called him on Tuesday. “He said, ‘I’ve seen a plane flying low, it’s not going to clear the mountain.’ We’re all in shock.”
He said a fellow councillor in Prads-Haute-Bléone, one of only two locals to have seen the plane flying dangerously low before the crash, had called him on Tuesday. “He said, ‘I’ve seen a plane flying low, it’s not going to clear the mountain.’ We’re all in shock.”
On Wednesday, like the previous night, a team of mountain gendarmes stayed overnight at the perimeter of the crash site, securing the zone.On Wednesday, like the previous night, a team of mountain gendarmes stayed overnight at the perimeter of the crash site, securing the zone.
In Le Vernet, the 130 inhabitants were preparing homes and hotel rooms for any families who might arrive to contemplate the mountain face. In the hamlet of Le Vernet, the 130 inhabitants were preparing homes and hotel rooms for any families who might arrive. The sub-prefect of Aix-en-Provence, Serge Gouteyron, has been working on the logistics of the recovery operation at the site as well as on the arrival of families.
The sub-prefect of Aix-en-Provence, Serge Gouteyron, has been working on the logistics of the recovery operation at the site as well as on the arrival of families. “Families will want to come and gather their thoughts here in front of the mountain,” he said. “They will need calm and privacy.”
“Families will want to come and gather their thoughts here in front of the mountain. They will need calm and privacy,” he said. Gouteyron said there would be no possibility of families either approaching the site on foot or flying over it by helicopter, because all routes were closed except to the security services, to preserve the crash scene and investigation.
He said there would be no possibility of families either approaching the site on foot or flying over it by helicopter, because all routes were locked down except to the security services in order to preserve the crash scene and investigation.
Josephine Balique, the daughter of the mayor of Le Vernet, said: “Families will want to come here to be as close as they can to the site. We’ll do all we can to help them do that.”Josephine Balique, the daughter of the mayor of Le Vernet, said: “Families will want to come here to be as close as they can to the site. We’ll do all we can to help them do that.”
As French rolling TV news stations broadcast the reports that one of the pilots was locked out of the plane cabin, locals were shocked and confused as to what might have happened.As French rolling TV news stations broadcast the reports that one of the pilots was locked out of the plane cabin, locals were shocked and confused as to what might have happened.
“I’m following it closely, I don’t know what to think, it’s so hard to understand,” said Robert Murcia, a school teacher from Dignes-les-Bain, who was volunteering as a translator in Spanish. “I’m following it closely, I don’t know what to think,” said Robert Murcia, a school teacher from Dignes-les-Bain, who was volunteering as a translator in Spanish. “It’s so hard to understand.”