GERMANWINGS FLIGHT 9525

A German official has reportedly confirmed that only one of the plane's two pilots was in the cockpit at the time of the crash.

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, is flying the next of kin to Marseille, near the crash site in the French Alps.

One of the two pilots banged on the Airbus A320's cockpit door before trying “to smash the door down.”

Germanwings bills itself as a low-cost carrier -- but that doesn't mean it cuts corners on safety.

The Lufthansa-subsidiary crews insisted that safety concerns were not behind the decision.

"We cannot comprehend how a technically flawless airplane steered by two experienced pilots could encounter such a situation."

Authorities spent the night at the scene to protect the debris and bodies from wolves as well as looters and journalists.

The victims in the Germanwings plane crash included two renowned opera singers, a mother and son on vacation and three generations of one family.

Anger is brewing on social media and beyond as the world, including family members of the passengers, awaits the final list of the 150 victims aboard Germanwings Flight 9525.

"According to the latest information there is no hard evidence that the crash was intentionally brought about by third parties."

The plane’s black box has been recovered. Officials said it was damaged but in working condition.

Authorities are working to retrieve information from the cockpit voice recorder that holds all conversations between the pilots and air traffic controllers.

Some of the 150 people who died in the Germanwings crash Tuesday have been preliminarily identified.

European flag carriers are shifting their domestic operations to their own budget airlines.

Recovery teams have postponed their search for the remains of Flight 9525, citing poor weather conditions in the Alps. Officials said all 150 people on board the Airbus A320 were likely killed.

The Airbus A320 in Tuesday’s crash in France had been in service for 24 years.

Investigators have located Flight 9525’s black box among the wreckage of the Airbus A320, a critical development as officials try to piece together what caused the crash.

Two opera singers were among the 150 people killed in a plane crash in the French Alps Tuesday. Names of other victims have yet to be released.

Backlash developed on social media Tuesday following publication of photos of individuals affected by the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash.

"There is no indication of a nexus to terrorism at this time,” Bernadette Meehan, spokeswoman for the U.S. National Security Council, said.

"Whatever caused this accident has first [got] to be figured out, which may take weeks, but Germanwings still is a highly reliable airline."