.Airbus A320 sent distress signal at 9.47am GMT before vanishing off radar
- .Aircraft was carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and six cabin crew
- .Jet plunged 31,000ft in 10 minutes before crashing, according to radar data
- .President Francois Hollande does not expect there to be any survivors
- .Plane was operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline
- .Shares in Lufthansa and Airbus dropped 4.7% and 2.1% after accident
All 142 passengers and six crew were today presumed dead after an Airbus A320 crashed in a remote region of the French Alps en route from Spain to Germany.
Flight 4U9525 disappeared from radar in the Alpes de Hautes Provence after sending a distress signal at 10.47am local time (9.47am GMT).
Debris from the jet, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, has been found scattered over a wide area near Barcelonnette.
French president Francois Hollande said that he did not expect there to be any survivors.
He said: 'It's a loss, a tragedy which has happened on our soil.
'I am seeking information about homes in the area it came down. It's difficult place to access. In the meantime solidarity must prevail.'
This Germanwings Airbus A320 carrying 142 passengers and six crew has crashed in the French Alps
Mr Hollande said he would be meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the King of Spain, who are visiting Paris for three days.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, with weather conditions described as good in the region and the airliner flying at an altitude high above the Alps.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said he understood between 142 and 150 people were on board and feared dead.
Alain Vidal, Secretary of State for Transport, Sea and Fisheries, was more final, insisting there were no survivors.
But Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told BFM TV said: 'As long as land resources have not arrived we cannot say for certain.
'Helicopters and several hundred people are involved in the search and rescue.'
The jet was travelling from the Spanish coastal city of Barcelona to the German city of Duesseldorf when it went down in the Barcelonnette area in southeastern France.
A spokesman for the DGAC aviation authority said the airplane crashed near the town of Barcelonnette about 100 km (65 miles) north of the French Riviera city of Nice.
German media reports say there is a wide field of debris visible.
According to flight data from FlightAware 24, at 09.30 UTC (10.30 GMT) the aircraft was cruising at 38,000 feet at 532mph.
It started losing altitude to 37,975 by 10.31am with the speed reportedly increasing to 548mph.
But 10.41am, the last reported radar returns had the aircraft descending to 6,800 feet at 434mph.
The aircraft plunged 31,200 feet in ten minutes, according to the data.
Timeline of terror: This graphic from FlightRadar24 shows the path of the Airbus A320 until it dropped off the radar after plunging 31,200ft in just ten minutes
Debris from the jet, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, was found near Barcelonnette
According to the mayor of Barcelonette, the distress signal was received at 10.47am local time.
The plane crashed into a small valley around 2,000m (6,500ft) metres above sea level.
The body of the plane is understood to have been found intact, according to Europe1.
Pierre Polizzi, the owner of a nearby camping site told Al Jazeera: 'The plane crashed just 2km from here, high on a mountain.
'There was loud noise and then suddenly nothing. At first I thought it came from fighter jets that often hold drills in the area.'
Shock: A man who appears to have been waiting for missing Flight 4U 9525 reacts at the airport in Dusseldorf where the Airbus A320 was due to land
A woman waiting for flight 4U 9525 is lead away by staff at the airport in Dusseldorf, Germany
The arrivals board shows flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona without a status at the airport in Duesseldorf
German airline Lufthansa said it has no information yet about the crash of a jet belonging to its Germanwings subsidiary, describing it as a 'dark day.'
'We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525,' Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr said via Twitter.
'My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew on 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark day for Lufthansa. We hope to find survivors.'
Shares in Lufthansa and Airbus were down 4.7 percent and 2.1 per cent respectively after news of the accident.
Lufthansa was also hit by a four-day pilots' strike last week, although this did not affect Germanwings.
The crashed A320 is 24 years old and has been with the parent Lufthansa group since 1991, according to online database airfleets.net.
Inhospitable terrain: The Airbus A320 disappeared from radar in the Alpes de Hautes Provence (above) in the southern French Alps after sending a distress signal shortly before 11am (10am GMT)
The local La Provence newspaper said the Airbus A320 was carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew, citing aviation officials.
Lufthansa were not immediately available for a comment. Airbus had no immediate comment.
Germanwings today is the low-cost subsidiary of German national carrier Lufthansa, and was first branded in 2002.
The company's history can be dated back to 1997, however, when it was known as Eurowings.
The airline's main hubs are at Cologne Bonn Airport, Stuttgart Airport, Hamburg Airport, Berlin Tegel Airport and Dusseldorf Airport with further bases are Hannover Airport and Dortmund Airport.
Lufthansa have announced that Cologne-based Germanwings will be going back to its roots and re-branding back to Eurowings in autumn this year.
There are a total of 81 aircraft in Germanwings' fleet, with an average of 9.2 years, flying to 86 destinations around the world. The fleet includes the Airbus A319, Airbus A320 and the Bombardier CRJ900.
There had never been a fatal crash in Germanwings' history until the reports of today's tragedy.
Back in December 2010, a Germanwings flight was said to be 'moments from crashing' after the pilots were overcome with fumes on landing at Cologne.
The plane had 150 passengers on board, and officials accused Germanwings of 'playing down the incident' to 'avoid investigation'.
The first flight of an Airbus A320 took place in February 1987 in Toulouse, France, watched on by Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who were guests of then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac.
More than 1,400 people attended the opening at the French company's headquarters.
The first delivery of the aircraft was to Air France on March 26, 1988.
Airbus A320 aircraft have been part of Lufthansa fleet, including its subsidiaries, since 1989.
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