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Rescue helicopters from the French Securite Civile and the Gendarmerie are seen during a rescue operation near the crash site of an Airbus A320, near Seyne-les-Alpes, in the French Alps, March 24, 2015. An Airbus plane operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf, crashed in a remote snowy area of the French Alps on Tuesday and all 150 on board were feared dead. Reuters

The horrific story of a Germanwings Airbus A320 airliner crashing in the French Alps captivated social media users Tuesday as officials confirmed there were likely no survivors among the 144 passengers and six crew members who has been traveling en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. But as people across the world waited for answers about why the plane went down, some also took a moment to lightheartedly poke fun of an aviation expert discussing the crash on Sky News.

The reporter, Alex Macheras, describes himself as an "Aviation Analyst. Frequent Flyer & Traveller" on his Twitter page. He said he had traveled frequently on Germanwings and closely follows aviation news. But many Twitter users said he was too young looking to discuss such a serious topic. His age was not immediately known.

Gilbert Sauvan, a local council official, told Les Echos newspaper that the Germanwings plane had "disintegrated" in the crash. "The largest debris is the size of a car," he said. Sandrine Boisse, a tourism official from the ski resort of Pra Loup, said she heard a strange noise in the mountains at the time of the crash. "At first we thought it was on the ski slopes, an avalanche, but it wasn't the same noise," she told BBC News. "I think it was the noise of when a plane goes very quickly down."

European officials joined families and friends in mourning the victims. "This is the hour in which we all feel deep sorrow," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters.

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