yep ground level in alps is going to be something like 6000 feet

FDR Retrieved....not.
 

Geotracker: "It's also reported that the black boxes are retrieved."

Geotracker, Where was that reported?

That would be remarkably fast wouldn't it - incident happens this morning less than 3 hours ago in a very remote area, and somehow the recorders have been retrieved and that fact reported via media.

Wouldn't the crew have called the ATC immediately after such an event?

The airlines webserver https://www.germanwings.com/de.html is currently down too.

CSCOT

Yes, that was according French24. A phrase showed up that said black boxes are found but further no information is given. I can't know if it's real or not. We will just all wait in the meantime for further news...

FWIW according to French TV news/local reports it now seems the main area of interest is at or above 2700 metres (around la tete d'lestrop) members of the "mountain Gendarmes" (they do most of the mountain SAR in France) and other teams are struggling to reach the impact site by ski/ snow shoes, and /or helicopter. There's significant low cloud in the area.

For those who speak German, here's an example of a more cautious expert at work in the media (Tagesschau, 12.00 MET):

ARD-Luftfahrtexperte Immel: "Flugsicherung wertet Infos jetzt aus" | tagesschau.de

The anchorwoman tries to draw him into the usual speculation ("is there information on the cause yet?", "is the aircraft type unsafe?"). The interview partner Michael Immel (a journalist with Hessischer Rundfunk) manages, however, to emphasize that it takes very long ("many months") to investigate an accident, that there mostly is no single cause ("chain of events") and that the aircraft type in itself is safe.

FWIW
 

ZeroHedge has somehow gotten a table of v/s of this flight, link here.

Notice the extreme -14000 FPM v/s while level at FL380?

Heading also appears to have changed by roughly 15-20 degrees to the left, from just before that -14000 FPM spike until impact.

Just what I guessed. Thanks!

Altitude and speed profile taken from FR24:

http://s10.postimg.org/dfjgjhhi1/24_..._GWI18_G_3.jpg

How can anyone post that.... 14000fpm... Common sense says it has to be garbage! Discrediting the source completely. Why fill this space, and the media with more misinformation like speed 24kts.

Please think before you post?

I wouldn't expect a descent rate of 3,500 fpm even with a dual engine failure.

no need to change the squawk if you have one assigned

Check the altitude. Its still the same even after the -14000 spike. Im guessing just incorrect radar data.

Think it's safe to say -14,000fpm is a glitch

The 14,000 fpm is a spike possibly caused by the event triggering this crash. Possibly a pressure shock over the static ports?

The Aircraft continued at FL380 for a time after that spike then descended as you'd expect with flight idle and speed brakes extended at VMO.

Somehow the crew became disabled and unable to level off.......

UPDATE:

According experts on RTL news, they said that the most propable cause for a crash like this is due to a pressurisation problem, especially when it has been noticed a rapid desent from cruise to around 10.000ft and then stabilising and then for unknown reason it further descended into the terrain...


Waiting more news....

The French ATC Union SNCTA have cancelled their strike action for 25th,26th,27th March.
http://www.sncta.fr/?wpfb_dl=577

Really? Engine out descents are generally done with the remaining engine generating thrust - often Max continous thrust, and are preceded (generally) by a level decel to engine out speed. The descent will be gradual and will taper out at the end. I've no idea of an A320 performance but EO altidude in a 75/76 is generally around the low to mid 20's - certainly enough to level off above the Alps. Nobody in their right mind is going to use a speedbrake for Engine out descents either as it just complicates matters needlessly.
Unlike a decompression there is no urgency in an EO descent

Condolences to all involved :sad:

Without knowing the details,

Hull losses occurring from stable mid-flight situations without human interference seem sparse

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/...2_3243337b.jpg

Full clarity seems almost guaranteed, because this one went down in a western area with FDR's probably recovered, analyzed and studied within days.

Everyone says the speed brakes were extended. How do you know that?