hello. "bbc news," our top story. as we come on air, a moment of si leps has been held in spain remembering the airliner and victims that crashed in the french alps. bad weather threatens the recovery operation under way after the crash. the damaged cockpit voice recorder could still provide information to discover the cause of this project. among the victim 16 german school children. their classmates speak of their

shock and their disbelief. >> we were confused because we didn't really know why we should leave school and then we heard it from the news and it was shocking. >> hello and welcome. the french interior minister bernard cazeneuve says the voice box recorder that crashed in the alps is damaged but could still provide information to experts still trying to discover the cause of the project. let's go live to my colleague, tim willcox, in the

seyne-les-alps. he will join us from the crash site. we join him now. >> hello. you're watching "bbc news." i'm tim willcox live in seyne-less-seyne- seyne-les-alps. let's take you live today where a minute silence is being held for the 45 spanish nationals who lost their lives. this is the scene in madrid also a moment's silence in barcelona, the airport from which this airbus a320 departed yesterday on this doomed flight from dis dorfusseldorf. 16 teenagers from the joseph

koenig school returning from an exchange visit to a school just outside barcelona. the recovery operation continues and started again today at first light. it's not expected any of the bodies will be recovered in the next 24 hours such is the difficulty of teter rain. i'm not sure if you can hear or see the helicopter passing from this the command center on an industrial center just out side here which has been going on since dawn the team launched by helicopter because the helicopter is unable to land in the steep ravines. the teams drop down to try to carry out that impossibly difficult search for bodies and indeed parts.

the developments over the next few hours, this report by paul adams. >> reporter: in the misty apes this misty alps goes on looking for debris and bodies and clues why the airbus went into its deadly eight minute dive. the nearby ravines have already yielded the cockpit voice recorder damaged but vital and other substantial pieces of wreckage. >> translator: according to the information received the black box was damaged but it will be possible to put it back together in order to make use of it and determine the condition surrounding this drama. >> reporter: bereaved families

are expected to arrive later to see for themselves the place where this happened. french and spanish leaders are coming too. in cologne this morning, a minute's silence outside the headquarters of germanwings. this is the company's first fatal accidents. some of its pilots said they're too emotional to fly and at least one flight has been cancelled. in a small northern town of a hool in mourning 16 students and two teachers were among the two passengers traveling to journey after an exchange program. the school is closed but students gathered to remember their friends. yesterday we were many the sign reads and today, we're alone. >> >> translator: still very much shocked and hardly able to commend what happened. we are trying -- we are trying to console a little bit and

we're trying to support people to get through this day. >> reporter: in dusseldorf the ill-fated plane's destination, the business of travel goes on. slowly but surely the missing are being identified. 67 germans, more than 40 spaniards and we now know at least three brittons. >> we currently believe three british people have been killed in this tragedy. we can't rule out the possibility there were other people involved. >> two australians were involved carol friday traveling with her son, greg enjoying a few weeks together before he took up a job fiching english. paul adam "bbc news." >> the teach psychologists are here to help dull the trauma of the victims' families. that's a headhead following the visit

visits of officials from spain. and we go to dusseldorf the destination of this plane. anna have all the families left where you are or are some remaining? >> reporter: we've been here since yesterday and haven't seen any of the families. they've been whisked away where the airline is relaying information from the crash site. it's been a busy morning. for one minute it fell silent where crews gathered and germanwings to remember their colleagues and passengers for a moment of silence, some wiping their eyes and others just looking, thinking. a notice board has now been erected inside the airport and flowers laid some of the

americans message messages read flight attendants don't die, they just fly higher. one flight had to be canceled because the crew didn't want to travel refused to fly, due to emotional distress and many lost beloved colleagues. we're hearing more this morning about speculation about one of the mechanical faults fixed just the day before the flight left dusseldorf to fly to barcelona before making that fated return journey. >> this was an old aircraft wasn't it 24 years old and had made 48,000 takeoffs and landings. was it nearing the end for a normal life for an aircraft like this? >> a normal life for an aircraft like this was 25 years. it was indeed near the end of its commercial life span.

there's been lots of speculation in the press about a nose lift hatch problem but it was still within the limits specified by airbus. airbus noted one of their aircrafts takes off and lands every 2.5 seconds. that's one of the reason that resonates so much ever ripy one of us takes off on these planes and it has a remarkable record no fatal plane fatal plane crashes in its history. the captain had five years flying with germanwings. the co-pilot had been with the airline for a year and was less experienced. we're expecting to hear more detail later with regards to the contents of the black box.

we understand the voice recorder has been damaged but we're hoping it might provide clues why this aircraft cruising at an altitude of 38,000 feet then came down rapidly into the alps. >> from dusseldorf thank you very much. let's take you to spain, a minute of silence held in barcelona and the spanish parliament as well for the spanish nationals on board. 45 had spanish sounding sur names. bethany joins us now from barcelona. what details are emerging from victims on board this plane? >> reporter: as you say, over 40 of the victims were from spain. we know one woman -- one company who lived in manchester she had come here for the funeral of her

uncle and traveling with her young son. there were people who worked for the german pharmaceutical company, bayer and people who worked for a cattle land due to visit a food festival in cologne. these are a few people among the victims. relatives of the victims arrived last night, around 150 or so. many of them spent the night here. cattle land officials and police have been taking dna samples from them to take dna samples to aid in identifying the bodies. we understand while some were planning to go to the site of the crash today, local authorities are adviseingeing people not to do that because they say the recovery process is likely to take a very very long time and say it's extremely

distressing. >> yeah. it could take days to recover the bodies from this crash site. nobody knows, bethany, quite what caused this plane to so cat catastrophically fail as it was flying over the alps and come crashing into the mountains around us now. let's look at the barcelona departure from spain. it is very new with very strict security procedures in place. . >> reporter: yes. we understand people will be taking great care to look what went on on the grounds before the flight took off. the investigation will beup pu lousily carried off, we're told as to what went on here if there were failures on this end. it is very much a feeling of grief and mourning.

and where those 16 change students had been here they held their own private memorial a short time ago. members of the press weren't allowed to go in there. we understand they listened to a german song the german exchange students told them about and read out loud a poem. extreme mourning there in that little town where the change students had been staying. a short time ago, i saw a car drive up here in front of the north american nal han an enormous reith of flowers for the people who died. >> this has been taken to paris for analysis. we're told there should be some sort of results by the end of

the day. investigators are warning it has been badly damaged. at the moment speculation what brought down this germanwings flight. a lot of theories out there but nobody knows for sure what happened. let's speak to phil giles, an accident investigator joining us now. this is a workhorse, a plane flown all around the world. what are your thoughts now that you had 24 hours to looks at the information that emerged already, what potentially caused this to happen? >> as you say, speculation is not a lot of help. what we have got, a few facts, one of which is the disposition of the wreckage although it's spread over a relatively large area tof the mountainside it is consistent with being intact when it hit the mountainside

traveling at high speed which tells us it probably didn't break up in mid-air. one of the things we have to take into account as well the descent of the aircraft over 8 minutes, a medium rate not high at 4,000 ha minute was controlled, to use a word controlled. it wasn't obviously out of control or spiraling, the speed was relatively kwonconstant. it was either under control of a pilot or possibly the automatic system. that's what we know at the moment. it is a mystery why over eight minutes the crew were unable to make a call. it's no help to what caused it but those are the facts to look at. >> a320 a workhorse, as i say,

was 24 years old, nearing the end of an aircraft's lifetime. presumably these aircraft 24 years old are constantly upgraded and modified. >> that's correct. if you look after your car in the same way aircraft is looked after, it would go on forever. it goes day in and day out with no problems at all. there's a saying in the industry the more you fly an airplane the more it will keep flying. 25 years getting on a bit and soon be ready for retirement but doesn't mean it was unsafe because it's 25 years old. >> the airline hasn't had a single fatality in its history. what about the difference

between this plane, this flight and what we saw in ukraine and malaysia? malaysia? >> the one in ukraine was pretty clear that high energy objects hit the airplane from outside, in other words it was brought down by a missile, which is not something you can train for or prevent. nh 370 disappeared off the radar and disappeared in the southern ocean. there's no real similarity between the two. in this case the airline is going about its norm flight path and gets to 38,000 feet and for a reason we don't know it almost

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test test one other story happening today, the supreme court is expected to rule whether to uphold the convictionses of the american student amanda knox and her former italian boyfriend in the murder of meredith kercher in 2007. gavin, this was always a complicated case. >> yeah. it's gone on for seven years now. it goes back to the 1st of november 2007, the timer dith meredith

kercher was killed and amanda knox was arrested along with her former boyfriend. convicted, acquitted, convicted again. the way the italian system works it said they aren't happy they can go back to trying again. we've seen them go through this and supporters as well for amanda amanda knox waving placards out side. they will decide if it goes back to trial again, if they believe the evidence that convicted them established the guilty verdict last year was flimsy on the forensic evidence or if they believe the case is to close they can give the definitive today upholding the conviction. that's it. if that were to happen we understand rafael would be taken into custody and extradition request for amanda knox to come

back to the u.s. >> thank you very much. our correspondent in rome one of the stories we're monitoring and we wilton update you on any developments concerning the rescue and recovery operation of that germanwings aircraft that tragically descended yesterday. thanks for watching, bye-bye. give you 37-thousand to replace it. "depreciation" they claim. "how can my car depreciate before it's first oil change?" you ask. maybe the better question is why do you have that insurance company? with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.

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our top stories. spain holds a minute silence in the memory of the people killed when a german plane crashed into a remote part of the french alps. a moment of silence to remember the 150 victims of yesterday's germanwings air tragedy. as the search for the victims' bodies continues we will be live from the crash site. >> just behind me over my shoulder there in between that pyramid shaped mountain and snow

snowy slopes, from 5 miles inland in the most impossible conditions. >> the damaged cockpit voice recorder could stillry of information needed to discover the cause of this crash. >> hello and welcome to the program. the french interior minister bernard cazeneuve says the voice box recorder recovered is damaged but says the recorder could still provide information to experts trying to discover the cause of this tragedy. the a320 crashed in an eight minute descent according to officials and there were no survivors.

the search found no -- and my correspondent is in the area a very very difficult recovery operation going on. >> reporter: it is. i'm just at a small industrial complex on the outskirts of the alps the command center for helicopters dropping off rescue workers at the scene of the crash site just 5 miles inland in the mountains behind me. the terrain so difficult and working conditions so difficult impossible to land. these teams are being wenched down by helicopter to carry out that terrible task ofç recovering the bodies and the other black box, the data recorder and crucial wreckage of that plane to try to work out exactly what

happened which led to such a cat catastrophic incident in the french alps. it is said later today some of the victims families will be traveling here and they will be offered the opportunity to fly over the crash scene. for many we're hearing that will be too difficult to cope with given the fact this disaster has impacted in such an atrocious appalling way on their lives in the past 24 hours. we're expecting angela merkel, the french president and the spanish prime minister to speak as well. teams and psychologists are already gathered to help those relatives who do want to come to help them cope with what is going to be the most harrowing of ordeals. for the latest on that recovery effort this report by paul adams. >> in the misty french alps this

morning the search for answers goes on amid fresh snow and rain. and rescuers looking for debris and bodies including why the airbus went into its deadly eight minute drive. they have already recovered the black box voice recorder damaged but vital and other substantial wreckage. >> translator: according to the information received the black box was damaged but it will be possible to put it back together in order to be able to make use of it and to determine the conditions surrounding this. >> bereaved families expected arrive later to see for themselves the place this happened and the french and spanish leaders are coming, too. in cologne this morning, a minute's silence outside the headquarters of germanwings. this is the company's first fatal accident. some of its pilots have said they're too emotional to fly. at least one flight has been

canceled. in a small northern town, high school in mourning 16 students were passengers returning after an exchange program. the school is closed and students gathered to remember their friends. yesterday, we were many the sign read, today we're alone. >> they're very much shocked and hardlyble to comprehend what has happened. we are trying -- we are trying to console a little bit and trying to help people get through this day. >> reporter: in dusseldorf, the destination, the business of travel goes on. a dozen nationalities including 67 germans more than 40

spaniards and we now know at least three brittons. >> we currently believe three british people have been killed in this tragedy. we can't rule out the possibility there are further british people on board. >> two australians are also on board. carol friday traveling with her son, greg to spend a few weeks together before he took up a job teaching english. "bbc news." let's take you live to germanwings where they're holding a press conference into today's disaster. >> i would like to thank the rescue people the fire brigade police officers, rescue teams paramedics, who within the scope of a few minutes were on site together with the technical experts, they are investigating the accident site in order to clarify the events of the

accident. as regards the counseling of the families and the family members of the crew members and the passengers that is our utmost priority. the group of company sies of lufthansa have established counseling centers in barcelona in frankfurt and munich, where the families of those victims can be counseled. in total, we have 123 families of affected people. with those families we have to be able to establish contact. as regards the individual counseling of the individual person, that is our top priority trained experts and trained psychologists are

available to insure that counseling, the counseling centers but also visits at home. at the moment we have the contact details and the contact data of 27 people and in conjunction with the foreign office, we are trying to contact those 27 people. that is our current status at 12:00 midday. that is obviously subject to change because the foreign office is working together with embassies abroad and the search will be conducted relatively quickly. i'm sure the contact will be established quickly as well. it is our effort to render

psychological support to everybody who is a victim. for example we are in contact and we are assisting a family in manchester and at the moment there is also a specialist, ser serologist in new mexico to assist a victim in new mexico. the entire group of germanwings are using all of their resources in order to assist. tomorrow, we are going to establish two extraordinary flights for the families to take them to the south of france. one flight will de part from dusseldorf to the south of france and one flight will take off to the south of france in a again. those flights are exclusively for families and relatives of

the casualties and psychologist s counseling the families. we are also going to organize a flight from dusseldorf to the south of france for the relatives of crew members. we have now a slightly clearer picture on the nationalities of the victims sitting on the flight germanwings. the list is in the process of being constantly updated. i was just saying a moment ago we have a number of victims to whose famiyç members we have not been able to establish contact yet. our stages at the moment at 11:00 in the morning is that the german casualties at the moment -- the german casualty is 72 and spain, 35 casualties.

we have one casualty from great britain, one from the netherlands netherlands, one from new mexico, one from japan one from denmark, one from belgium and one from israel. and two casualties from australia, argentineargentina, iran, venezuela and the united states. as regards, some victims, the nationality has not been yet ascertained. that may be because of dual nationalityies and the berlin office will mandate in order to establish their nationalities. lufthansa and germanwings and their management are 24 hours around the clock at work. a colleague of mine is also attend attending a church service.

a managing director is also in dusseldorf at the moment to oversee the counseling of the families at the airport. i myself will be going after this press conference together with the chief comprehensiveexecutive officer will go to dusseldorf and barcelona to do the same duties there. near the accident site there are the team of the german accident investigation unit. the security pilot of germanwings and lufthansa and lufthansa and air traffic

control experts monitoring the surveillance of the operation, this normally would be french authorities, in this case the dpa. we believe with those from lufthansa and germanwings we now and to fly. for lufthansa and came forward and said we will fly on your behalf. that this is case yesterday because crews of germanwings be it in the cabin or cockpit for

emotional reasons, they have been saying we are unfit to fly. our management has full understanding for this. we are a small family. everybody knows everybody else within germanwings so the shock is tremendous for the colleagues be it in the cabin or be it in the cockpit. we are going to continue to inform you as soon as further information is available but we are joining for now in the mourning and grief of the victims victims, guests of passengers and families of the passengers and crew members. thank you very much. >> that's the end of that germanwings press conference. that's where we're leaving it anyway. the numbers -- the different nationalities are slightly

revised in terms of the dead on that flight. 49 spanish nationals now confirmed to have died. 72 germans. they make up the large testst number of people killed on this airbus a320 disaster. other nationalities including argentines and iranians australia australians and other nationalities as well. some failed to be identified maybe because of dual nationality. as you heard also flights arranged for relatives of the victims of this disaster to be flown here to the french alps if they wish to. here on the ground, the helicopters continue to fly around dropping teams on the ground wenching them down trying to recover the bodies and wreckage of that aircraft. we have photographs to show you of the voice recorder that's

already been recovered from the scene. that's being taken to paris. it is bad lirly damaged but we were hearing from the interior minister earlier some information will be taken from the voice recorder by the end of the day. much more on "bbc news" for this disaster bewildered and caused grief right around the world considering the nationalities of those involved and in particular those families directly involved and 16 teenagers on a german exchange school project with a spanish school, 16 lost their lives, this the worst disaster of french soil since 1981. for now, back to you in the studio. >> an international tragedy, tim willcox from the scene near the crash site. we will continue to monitor all of the events.

lots off informatia@x coming in to us at the bbc. do stay with us. we have more to come on the program. other stories, the latest on the hearing in italy whether to uphold the conviction of amanda knox in the murder of a british student. many (boy) i'm here! i'm here! (cop) too late. i was gone for five minutes! ugh! move it. you're killing me. you know what, dad? i'm good. (dad) it may be quite a while before he's ready, but our subaru legacy will be waiting for him. (vo) the longest-lasting midsize sedan in its class. the twenty-fifteen subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. who does this kinda thing online? i-i-i clicked on some links, ugh the kids weren't even home. wait, wait, wait, this changes everything. it's cars.com service & repair feature. so we'll never pay more than we should. well done. research, price, find. get the right service without all the drama. shopping online... ...is as easy as it gets.

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welcome to "bbc world news." our main headlines this hour. a search is under way for the 150 victims of tuesday's air crash in the french alps, the leaders of germany france and spain traveled to the scene of the tragedy. a minute's silence in memory of the victims of yesterday's aircraft as they continue to retrieve information from the damaged cockpit voice recorder. we just heard a little bit more

from germanwings about what we know about the people on board that flight, the passengers who were traveling. we know so far the largest group of nationalityies were germans who lost their lives on that flight, 16 were students from one school and two were their teachers. in terms of other german nationalities, germ mans saying it's difficult -- they're having a little trouble finding relatives of all the people affected and don't want to disclose too much until the have all the details and contacted all the relatives affected. the suggestion, so far from what they know will no doubt change as communications and more information is obtained. 35 people from spain lost their lives. spanish authorities are saying as many as 49 were of spanish nationality.

across this completely international tragedy across the board, there were australians on board, british on board and a woman in her 60s and her 29-year-old son were among the passenger, australia very much paying tribute and the prime minister of the country spoke about them in parliament. >> two australian carol friday and her son, greg friday, residents of victoria, were on board of the flight. consulate officials are in contact with the friday family and providing all possible assistance and prayers are with them at this unimaginable difficult time. our family is in deep disbelief and crippled with sadness and would like to ask for privacy. i carol was a loving mother of two, a devoted wife to her husband, dave, and sister to three brothers. she celebrated her 68th birthday on march 23rd.

greg was to turn 30 on the 28th of april, a loving son to carol and dave and exceptional brother to his sister alex. what's adored by all his family and friends. carol and greg were enjoying a few weeks holiday together at the start of his europe stay where greg was to teach english this year. they were both extraordinary and exceptional people loved by many who they loved in return. they will forever be with us in our hearts memories and dreams. >> that was judy bishop, the australian foreign minister paying tribute to two australians who lost their life. a woman in her 60s and 29-year-old son. of the 72 german nationals on board that flight were students from the same school and two of their teachers, a school in northwest germany. now, the headmaster of that school has spoken about how he found out the news in a phone

call. >> translator: -- >> our apologies for that. that was the voice of the headmaster of that school describing the pain hearing about the death of those children and one of our correspondents at the school was saying there was just a simple sign outside which said why? which asks why? the prosecutor leading the french investigation into the crash shays office is still gathering important information. >> from today the prosecutor's office is preparing into judicial demands from our 2 friendly companies spain and germany. we need to know elements of this aircraft leave ging barcelona. if maintenance was carried out and what materials were taken on board this plane. >> a crash like this raises

concerns among air passengers. billions of us who have taken to the skies every year, have take an look at the safety record of flying. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ >> some aviation statistics there but little comfort to the relatives of those who lost their lives. let's update you on one other story happening today. italy's supreme court is expected to rule on whether to uphold the conviction of student amanda knox and her boyfriend rafaelle sollecito. we have the details. >> reporter: it goes back to 2007 the timer meredith kercher had been stabbed by her

housemate along with rafaelle sol and the way they were convicted and then convicted again. and some supporters for amanda knocks waving placards outside. what will happen today the three aappellate judges look at the case and decide one of two things if it goes back to trial again, if they believe the guilty verdict last year was flimsy on the forensic evidence or if they believe the cases should close they can give a definitive today upholding the conviction. if that were to happen, rafaelle would be taken into custody today and an extradition request for amanda knox to come back from the u.s. >> our main focus is on

yesterday's event, that plane crash that happened over the french alps. we have new the figure, 72 germans were on board. according to germanwings chief executive, 75we will have the numbers involved. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ shelly how'd you come to find the biggest liquid gold mine in the state? i was shopping for provisions, yeah? and that's when i saw it. what'd you see shelly? boxes and boxes of velveeta shells and cheese, stacked clear to the ceiling!

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