Germanwings crew unfit to fly due to ’emotional distress’
Germanwings has been forced to cancel some services and call on fellow airlines for help after crew refused to board flights due to ’emotional distress’.
The airline had to cancel several flights in the immediate aftermath of the A320 crash yesterday but said there would only be one flight cancellation today.
It has called on the support of crews from other airlines to help operate its network.
In a statement, it said: “Due to emotional distress, some crew members are also unfit for service today. Germanwings understands these circumstances, as crew members have lost beloved colleagues in the incident,” said a spokesman.
“Today, Germanwings operates 11 aircraft, predominantly from other airlines like Lufthansa, Air Berlin and TuiFly, on approximately 40 flights.”
Germanwings said a full investigation is underway after the A320, flying between Barcelona and Dusseldorf, came down in a remote area of the French Alps between Barcelonnette and Digne.
Officials have recovered the flight’s cockpit voice recorder and hope it will give them some answers. They hope to find the second ‘black box’ recorder today.
There were no survivors among the 144 passengers and six crew members on board.
The airline has confirmed that 35 of the victims were Spanish and 72 German, including a group of 16 pupils from the same school returning from an exchange trip.
There were also three Britons on board, plus travellers from Australia, Turkey, Denmark, the Netherlands, Argentina, Israel and Belgium.
In a press conference yesterday, Germanwings said the plane had dropped from 38,000 to 6,800 feet in 8 minutes and local authorities say the largest piece of debris found was the size of the car.
Experts say this suggests that a ‘catasrophic’ event occured. The White House said there is no suspicion of terrorism.
Despite initial reports that pilots had sent a distress call, French aviation authority DGAC later said this was not the case.
Germanwings has issued the following phone number for relatives: 0800 11 33 55 77.
“Everyone at Germanwings and Lufthansa is deeply shocked and saddened by these events. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of the passengers and crew members,” it said.
Lufthansa chief Carsten Spohr issued a statement saying: “This is a dark day for Lufthansa.”
Grieving families are arriving at the town near the crash site today. Local people have been offering them accommodation due to a shortage of places to stay.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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