2 Australians killed in tragic plane crash in French Alps.

Another airline tragedy with an Airbus A320, travelling from Barcelona to Düsseldorf crashing over French Alps – there are no survivors.

UPDATE:

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has confirmed two Australians were killed in plane crash that went down over the French Alps last night.

The minister said the family had been contacted, but could not reveal the identities of the two passengers — a mother and her adult son — from Victoria.

Australia will send a consular official to the crash site to set up an “Incident Coordination Centre” to assist with the investigation.

“As many consular staff as needed – we will be there,” the minister told the media.

Prime Minister said his “thoughts and prayers” are with the families of all involved, especially the loved ones of the two Australians onboard.

The search has been suspended for the night, and will resume at sunrise in the region.

Any Australians with concerns for family members, please call DFAT on 1300 555 135.

Mamamia previously reported…

The plane was a part of Lufthansa’s low-cost arm – Germanwings. The plane carrying 150 people disappeared off the radar before crashing near Digne-les-Bains.

Among the 150 passengers were sixteen schoolchildren and two teachers from a high school in the German town of Haltern. The town’s mayor has said today is the bleakest day in the school’s history. “This is, of course, the worst thing you could imagine”, the mayor said.

The students and teachers attended the Joseph-Koenig school in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia They were returning from an exchange in Spain – where the year ten students had attended a Spanish course.

Their devastated families first heard news of the crash on the news.

The passengers included 67 German, 45 Spanish and unspecified Turkish passengers – two babies were onboard.

The Airbus A320 plane was 25 years old. Experts have said the aircraft would have been nearing the end of its commercial life after more than 24 years of service.

Germanwings said in a statement:

“The plane was delivered to Lufthansa in 1991, and since 2001 it has been flying for Germanwings.

The last routine check was yesterday, March 23, in Dusseldorf – by Lufthansa technicians.

The last major check was, according to the manuals of the Airbus, in summer 2013.

The captain of the plane has flight experience of over 10 years for Lufthansa and Germanwings, and more than 6,000 flight hours with the Airbus model.”

The crashed Airbus A320 lost altitude sharply before disappearing off radar below the elevation of many of the surrounding mountains. There were initial reports that a distress call was made – but that was corrected last night with authorities in France now saying that there was no distress call made.

The Airbus A320 crashed in the commune of Méolans-Revel, an isolated area of small villages and hamlets that are difficult to reach. Debris is scattered over an area of 2 sq km.

The plane was 44 minutes into its flight from Barcelona in clear weather when it dropped from a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet to around 6,800 feet over the town of Barcelonnette. The eight-minute descent was described as unusually rapid.

The first emergency services workers who arrived in the difficult terrain by helicopter said there no survivors. They told media they say fragments of the plane “the size of a car”.

“We saw an aircraft that had literally been ripped apart, the bodies are in a state of destruction, there is not one intact piece of wing or fuselage,” Bruce Robin, prosecutor for the city of Marseille, told Reuters.

The Independent reports that there are currently 6,191 A320 aircraft in operation across the world.They are the world’s most used passenger jets.

Related content: Nervous about flying this will help.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who said she would travel to the crash site on Wednesday, said the crash had plunged Germany, France and Spain into “deep mourning”.

French President Francois Hollande said “This is a mourning period that we need to overcome because it’s a tragedy that has occurred on our land.”

The White House has said there is no evidence so far of a terror attack.

“There is no indication of a nexus to terrorism at this time,” National Security Council spokesman Bernadette Meehan told Fox News.

CNN reports that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said just under 16% of aviation accidents occur during the cruise portion (after the climb and before descent). Accidents are more common during takeoff and landing.

Heartbroken relatives have gathered at Barcelona’s El Prat airport and in Dusseldorf. They are being comforted and assisted by Germanwings staff and given updates on the situation.

Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.