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Alps village in shock over Germanwings crash cause as grieving families arrive Alps village in shock over Germanwings crash cause as grieving families arrive
(about 3 hours later)
In the picturesque mountain village of Seyne-les-Alpes, just beyond the crash site of Germanwings flight 4U9525, locals were shocked and troubled by the revelation that the plane’s co-pilot could have deliberately brought down the aircraft, killing himself and 149 others on board.In the picturesque mountain village of Seyne-les-Alpes, just beyond the crash site of Germanwings flight 4U9525, locals were shocked and troubled by the revelation that the plane’s co-pilot could have deliberately brought down the aircraft, killing himself and 149 others on board.
“It’s unthinkable,” said Guy Brunet, the village butcher and a mountain climber and hunter. “Imagine if he had done this only 150 metres before, the plane could have hit the village. It would have been absolute carnage.”“It’s unthinkable,” said Guy Brunet, the village butcher and a mountain climber and hunter. “Imagine if he had done this only 150 metres before, the plane could have hit the village. It would have been absolute carnage.”
Jean-Louis Bietrix, a mountain guide and councillor in nearby Prads-Haute-Bléone, who had led the first gendarme teams to the crash site shortly after the plane went down, said: “This new element must make it so much worse for the families, it really adds to their grief. I think it will be so much harder now.”Jean-Louis Bietrix, a mountain guide and councillor in nearby Prads-Haute-Bléone, who had led the first gendarme teams to the crash site shortly after the plane went down, said: “This new element must make it so much worse for the families, it really adds to their grief. I think it will be so much harder now.”
Related: Germanwings plane deliberately flown into mountain, says prosecutor
Bietrix described what he saw on the mountainside just after the crash: “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.”Bietrix described what he saw on the mountainside just after the crash: “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 disaster, had called him on Tuesday at the time of the crash. “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 disaster, had called him on Tuesday at the time of the crash. “He said: ‘I’ve seen a plane flying low, it’s not going to clear the mountain.’ We’re all in shock.”
Guy Derbez, who was mayor of Seyne-les-Alpes in the 1970s and 80s, said the revelations about the co-pilot had left people confused and struggling for explanations. He hoped the truth would emerge in the coming days.Guy Derbez, who was mayor of Seyne-les-Alpes in the 1970s and 80s, said the revelations about the co-pilot had left people confused and struggling for explanations. He hoped the truth would emerge in the coming days.
“A suicide that also took 149 people to their deaths seems hard to conceive,” he said. “If he wanted to kill, then it must be seen as an attack in itself. Nothing happens gratuitously when there are 150 deaths.”“A suicide that also took 149 people to their deaths seems hard to conceive,” he said. “If he wanted to kill, then it must be seen as an attack in itself. Nothing happens gratuitously when there are 150 deaths.”
Questions over the co-pilot’s actions deepened the grim mood in the village just as victims’ families arrived to contemplate the mountain landscape beyond which their loved ones were killed when the Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf plunged into a remote rockface.Questions over the co-pilot’s actions deepened the grim mood in the village just as victims’ families arrived to contemplate the mountain landscape beyond which their loved ones were killed when the Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Düsseldorf plunged into a remote rockface.
More than 150 relatives who had been flown to Marseille airport by Lufthansa, Germanwings’ parent company, were met by psychologists and support teams and then driven three hours up into the southern Alps. More than 150 relatives who had been flown to Marseille airport by Lufthansa, Germanwings’ parent company, were met by psychologists and support teams and then driven for three hours up into the southern Alps.
The families were first taken to Seyne-les-Alpes, a village of 1,500 inhabitants that has become the makeshift operations centre for the recovery mission. Shielded from the media by gendarmes, they went to spend a moment of reflection in a temporary chapel and memorial room set up in the village youth centre.The families were first taken to Seyne-les-Alpes, a village of 1,500 inhabitants that has become the makeshift operations centre for the recovery mission. Shielded from the media by gendarmes, they went to spend a moment of reflection in a temporary chapel and memorial room set up in the village youth centre.
A sports hall had been transformed into a memorial room with condolence books already signed by François Hollande, Angela Merkel and Mariano Rajoy, where families were to be encouraged to write and talk about their lost relatives.A sports hall had been transformed into a memorial room with condolence books already signed by François Hollande, Angela Merkel and Mariano Rajoy, where families were to be encouraged to write and talk about their lost relatives.
Some families were expected then to be driven to the grounds of a holiday centre in Le Vernet, a tiny hamlet of homes and chalets that is the nearest inhabited point to the crash site. It was the closest the families would be able to get to the site of the tragedy, where remains were still being located scattered across the craggy mountainside.Some families were expected then to be driven to the grounds of a holiday centre in Le Vernet, a tiny hamlet of homes and chalets that is the nearest inhabited point to the crash site. It was the closest the families would be able to get to the site of the tragedy, where remains were still being located scattered across the craggy mountainside.
The crash site, tucked behind the mountain peaks, is not visible except from helicopters. Officials said the airspace had been closed to all but army recovery teams and families could not fly over.The crash site, tucked behind the mountain peaks, is not visible except from helicopters. Officials said the airspace had been closed to all but army recovery teams and families could not fly over.
The families’ visit seemed all the more poignant to villagers because relatives did not yet have any identified remains and faced a long wait for any repatriation or funerals. The painstaking work to recover and then put names to remains scattered across the mountainside is likely to take some weeks, if not months.The families’ visit seemed all the more poignant to villagers because relatives did not yet have any identified remains and faced a long wait for any repatriation or funerals. The painstaking work to recover and then put names to remains scattered across the mountainside is likely to take some weeks, if not months.
International forensics teams are working with mountain gendarmes, but accessing the craggy slopes to locate the remains often involves abseiling down by rope to inspect the debris in detail. One forensics expert told the local paper La Provence that the biggest body part found was “no bigger than a briefcase”. International forensics teams are working with mountain gendarmes, but accessing the slopes to locate the remains often involves abseiling down by rope to inspect the debris in detail. One forensics expert told the local paper La Provence that the biggest body part found was “no bigger than a briefcase”.
French media has described the plane as being “reduced to confetti”. DNA had been collected from relatives in order to aid in identification.French media has described the plane as being “reduced to confetti”. DNA had been collected from relatives in order to aid in identification.
Francis Hermitte, the current mayor of Seyne-les-Alpes, said hundreds of villagers in the valley had come forward to offer beds for the visiting families. But he said it was unlikely those beds would be used because the families, after seeing and contemplating the mountaintop, would most likely be bussed out of the village before nightfall and begin their journey home.Francis Hermitte, the current mayor of Seyne-les-Alpes, said hundreds of villagers in the valley had come forward to offer beds for the visiting families. But he said it was unlikely those beds would be used because the families, after seeing and contemplating the mountaintop, would most likely be bussed out of the village before nightfall and begin their journey home.
He said: “We are used to welcoming people on to the mountain for other reasons, but this mountain is the shroud for 150 people, which is particularly terrible.”He said: “We are used to welcoming people on to the mountain for other reasons, but this mountain is the shroud for 150 people, which is particularly terrible.”