Germanwings Plane Crashes In South France, 148 Feared Dead

A plane carrying at least 148 people crashed in southern France on Tuesday en route from Barcelona to Düsseldorf, the French civil aviation authority said.

The Airbus A320 plane was operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, and sent out a distress signal over the French Alps at 10:45 a.m.

A French military helicopter located the wreckage of the plane near the French town Barcelonnette, Reuters reported.

“The conditions of the accident, which are not yet unclear, suggest that there might not be any survivors,” French President François Hollande said in a brief Tuesday.

French media said the plane was carrying at least 142 passengers, two pilots and four flight attendants. France's interior ministry said the passenger manifest is being verified, but Hollande indicated many of the passengers may be German nationals.

An interior ministry spokesman told BFM television that the crash site is at 2,000 meters altitude and extremely remote, indicating "an extremely long and extremely difficult" search and rescue operation ahead.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Read HuffPost's coverage in French... read HuffPost's coverage in German...