On board the crashed Germanwings was an Israeli, a Ukrainian, and three Kazakhs.

One of the “black boxes” was found several hours after the crash - this is a recorder that records sounds in the cockpit.

The head of the French Office of Investigation and Analysis, Remi Zhuti, said that the recorder recorded various voices and sounds at the time of the disaster, however, in his opinion, it is premature to draw any conclusions from this information.

Zhuti did not give more detailed details of the recorder recording.

The second recorder from board A320 has not yet been found.

There was no explosion in the air

So far, French investigators say with certainty only that the Airbus A320, flying from Barcelona to Dusseldorf, crashed in the Alps after a short - eight-minute - and rapid loss of altitude, after which the plane crashed into a mountain at high speed.

According to the investigation, these circumstances suggest that there was no explosion on board the ship.

Remi Zhuti promised to present the first conclusions of the investigation to the public about the causes of the plane’s death in a few days, but warned that a thorough investigation would take many weeks and even months.

Zhuti also denied reports that appeared in the press that a second “black box” was allegedly found on Wednesday.

The chief investigator clarified the situation with the last radio communication between the airliner's crew and dispatchers at the nearest airport. According to Zhuti, the crew got in touch at the appropriate time, confirmed receipt of instructions on the further flight route, and did not report any problems - but a minute later the plane began a sudden descent.

The dispatchers discovered that the plane changed the direction of flight, tried to communicate with the pilots, but they no longer responded.

“The plane was flying right up to the moment it hit the ground,” concluded Remi Jouti, thereby ruling out the possibility of an explosion on board while the plane was in the air.

Inaccessible gorge

On board the passenger plane of the airline Germanwings, flying flight 4U 9525, there were 150 people.

The search operation may last for several days, as the plane crashed in an inaccessible gorge between the settlements of Ding and Barcelonnette.

According to rescuers, the plane broke up into small fragments, the largest of which does not exceed the size of a small car.

The wreckage of the liner is scattered in the mountains on a large area at an altitude of more than 2 thousand meters. To get to this area at this time of the year, when there is snow in the mountains, it is possible only by helicopter.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced a three-day national mourning in the country.