desperate men this is "nightline." tonight, tragedy in the alps. no one's believed to have survived the impact when a germanwings plane with 150 on board crashed into a mountain side. as families grieve for those lost, the degs pratt search for answers begins. what will the wreckage and the black box tell us about what went wrong. diary of a star. the angelina jolie's chosen another preventive cancer surgery. how the director is staying strong after entering early menopause. and the x-files re they are back to solve mysteries. so what was it that brought them back together after 13 years?

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good evening. thank you for joining us. new developments in the mid-air mystery tonight after a jet 150 people on board crashes in

the alps. tonight an urgent search for answer begins. terry moran is on the ground with the latest details on the investigation. >> reporter: good evening, here at the airport family members have gathered. while out at the crash site recovery workers are camped out overnight among the debris and wreckage waiting for first light to bring the grim task of bringing the loved ones home. rescuers on board a helicopter fly in the alps searching for signs of life. but sifting along the wreckage along the rugged ridges of this remote mountain area some of the debris still smoldering, the plane just obliterated, it was clear all are lost. scattered among the rocks, parting of the tail and fuselage. you see the plane's windows and a bit of the germanwings' logo. the tonight one of the black boxes found. on board, two babies families

and a high school group returning from a class trip. at the airport here in dusseldorf, frantic relatives looking for news. the flight was a routine route, from barcelona to the captain had 6,000 flight hours. but 44 minutes into the flight something went wrong. the plane rapidly descends from a cruising altitude of 38,000 feet at the rate of 400 miles per hour. >> an emergency descent is something we do if there's a rapid depressurization. because you can't breathe above 27,000 miles. so we got to get you down quickly. but you could do an emergency descent for other reasons for instance smoke in the cockpit, a suspected electrical fire.

>> reporter: 10:53. the plane loses contact with french radar. in a matter of minutes, the plane has dropped 32,000 feet. what happened next is still a mystery. >> to me the most mysterious part, why was there no radio call out of the airplane to coordinate the obviously emergency descent. secondly, why did they go under 14,000 or 15,000 feet in an area of obviously high terrain all the way down to 6800 feet. >> reporter: local eyewitnesses explain what happened next. i saw the plane come over there and it was really low in altitude, this man says. and then we heard a very loud sound like dynamite she says. 30 minutes later, french interior ministry helicopters were on site above the crash. the plane involved was an airbus a 320, one of the most common in the world with more than 4,000 currently in operation. >> these aircraft can go many many decades of service before

it's time to retire them. and this was a mid-life aircraft in terms of the amount of time it had been in the air. >> reporter: at 6:26, the first images broadcast on french television. news of the accident quickly spread to the airport in barcelona where the plane took off hours ago. >> it's a terrible loss about those people who crashed in the airplane. >> reporter: 16 tenth graders and their teachers studying spanish returning home after an exchange program and now they are all gone. today their town mayor could only say -- >> translator: it is pretty much the worst thing you can imagine. >> reporter: these images highlight the force of the crash. an airliner reduced to bits and pieces. >> the debris field shows that this impacted at a very high

speed, someplace above 425 miles per hour. >> reporter: hamish macdonald traveled to the crash site, three hours from the local airport. >> there's something like well over 700 people working on this recovery effort. there's helicopters from the military, lotting of hardware. for all of that though they're still needing to walk in by foot to get to the crash site. >> reporter: every day 93,000 flights take off and land without any problem. but over the past 12 months three disastrous airplane crashes. last december airasia, an airbus a 320 crashed into the sea with 162 fatalities that took off from surabaya. after leveling off, the plane encountered severe turbulence the pilot apparently radios in requesting to change altitude to 38,000 feet. air traffic control tells him not to but he appears to climb anyway. then air traffic control suddenly loses communication and

the plane is no long serviceable on the radar. it vanished into thin air. 162 people mostly indonesian all gone. airasia which is based out of malaysia has a good safety record and the pilot was experienced. >> we've carried 220 million people. until today we've never lost a life. >> reporter: search and rescue teams worked for days pulling debris and casualties out of the war. this month marks the one year anniversary of a boeing 777 carrying 239 passengers and crew that mysteriously vanished from radar. the search has already cost $100 million. but so far only 40% of the planned search area has been completed, despite this officials are staying the course. >> we owe it to the families of the dead. we owe it to the traveling public to do whatever we reasonably can. >> reporter: this month, a new report indicated that the

batteries on the black boxes triggering those important pingers had expired months before the plane went missing. and the focus now on the germanwings flight that crashed today and those 150 people on board. at 8:03 the search and rescue operation ended for the day, two dozen people camping out in near freezing temperatures. the prime minister is expected to visit the crash site. tonight the families gathering here in germany looking for answers. form "nightline," i'm terry moran in dusseldorf next angelina jolie's brave decision. and her warning to other women. cats like to eat. up today, new friskies 7. we're trying seven cat-favorite flavors all in one dish. now for the moment of truth.

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not even two years have passed since angelina jolie elected to have a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of developing cancer. now the 39 year old has made another drastic choice to protect her health. but she's cautioning other women

about following suit. here's cecelia vega. >> reporter: a very private decision from one of hollywood's most public people. angelina jolie revealing that a recent blood test detected what could be signs of early ovarian cancer. so she had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed what she calls the best option. she says she went through what thousands of other women have felt i told myself to be strong, stay calm and i had no reason not to believe that i wouldn't see my children grow up and see my grand children. at 39 years old, jolie says she couldn't risk it. >> when those kind of things happen in life you just want to meet your grandkids. you don't think beyond that. you want to be around in 20, 30 40 years. you want to be alive and

healthy. >> reporter: jolie is one of the most beautiful women alive, the smoldering star of and mr. and mrs. smith. this is her second stunning health admission. nearly two years ago, jolie underwent a preventative mastectomy after detecting brca 1. women who carry the gene have a 65% risk of breast cancer and a 39% risk of ovarian cancer. that disease that killed her mother. >> she was completely full of love and kindness. she's taught m about the importance of that of just being, just just every day kindness. and i think it's the most important thing about being a mom. just letting the kids know how much they make you happy. >> reporter: of the 20,000 american women diagnosed each year with ovarian cancer, more than half will die from it. >> while we have a good

screening test for breast cancer, we do not have a good screening test for ovarian cancer and fre detected at later stages when the survival chances are not so good. >> reporter: jolie says she wants other women to hear this. the most important thing is to learn about the options and choose what is right for you personally. in 2013 her double mastectomy announcement caused what was called the angelina effect prompting more women than ever to get genetic testing for cancer, something that surprised the star. >> i didn't expect there to be so much support, and i was very moved. and most of all, i was stunned that the discussion broadened, and that doctors were telling me how it helped the issue, and more women were getting tested. >> reporter: but some say there was another side to the angelina effect. women electing to have

preventative surgery even if they don't need it. >> anytime a world renowned celebrity uses their platform to bring awareness and education to a health issue, in my opinion is a win-win. the flip side is that this is a very emotionally-charged issue, and it's polarizing. people will say, i think that decision is extreme. >> reporter: less than 1% of the population carries the brca gene mutation that angelina has. for those women the choices are stark. you say it changed your entire life path. >> i realized i had an up to 50% chance of getting ovarian cancer and up to 87% chance of getting breast cancer. >> reporter: anna goreman lened she had the gene when she was just 28 years old. what was going through the back of your mind? >> fear that i didn't want to get cancer. i didn't want to die. i didn't want to i just didn't

want to worry about it. and worry about getting cancer. >> reporter: goreman always knew she was at risk. her aunt her grandmother and father all died of cancer. you're armed with this information. you have to do something. >> i thought, i really need to do something about t i need to get married have kids have surgeries, make decisions, and i need to do everything quickly. >> reporter: after giving birth to two daughters, sadie and twyla, she decided on the same preventive surgery jolie had. doctors removed her ovaries. she was 32. >> fear won out and logic. i knew i had a high risk of getting ovarian cancer and if i got it i had a risk of dying. >> reporter: she had a double mastectomy also. she is cancer free. her two daughters are 10 and 8. each have a 50/50 chance of inheriting the same cancer gene. >> it changes the game for many women. people are talking about it. they realize if somebody like her, who's this beautiful,

famous actress can do this, then they can to. >> reporter: just like anna did, jolie will now go through early menopause, becoming an unlikely face for something that usually affects women much older. i will not be able to have anymore children and i expect some physical changes she writes, but i feel at ease with whatever will come. >> surgical menopause can be more severe because it's crunched in over a period of a few days rather than a period of a few months to years. so it's like flipping a light switch. >> reporter: symptoms can include hot flashes, sweating changes in hair and skin as well as an increased risk of osteoporosis and parkinson's disease. but for many women those outweigh the deadly consequence of not taking any action. >> they've looked into a medical crystal ball. they've seen what their future or their medical destiny could have been. and they've taken aggressive steps to change that and that

gives them a real sense of empowerment. >> reporter: when jolie first got the news that she showed signs indicating the possibility of ovarian cancer she said her famous husband was on a plane within hours, racing home from france to be by her side as she waited on those tests to determine whether she did indeed have the disease that already killed three women in her family. jolie says she lived in a haze attending this soccer game three days ago while trying to stay calm and focussed. today she is cancer fry,ee writing it is not possible to remain free of all risk. i feel feminine and grounded in my choices. i know my children will never have to say "mom died of ovarian cancer." >> it's connect me to so women. we talk about their wives or

cancer in jim. it's been a beautiful journey. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm cecelia vega in los angeles. so what do you think about preventive surgery? is the risk worth the side effects? head to our facebook page and let us know. plus what's bringing david duchovny and jillian anderson together again after 13 years. abc "nightline" brought to you by mercedes benz. ...and if necessary, it will even brake all by itself. it is a luxury suv engineered to get you there and back safely. for tomorrow is another fight. the 2015 m-class. see your authorized dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

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finally tonight, x-files fans rejoice. of the beloved sci-fi series is returning after a rather

prolonged hiatus. the search for truth is back on. they always warned the truth is out there. now 13 years after its original run it's back fox execs announcing the reboot. >> i'm dana scully. >> reporter: stars david duchovny and jillian anderson reprising their roles. anderson tweeting at her coe star today mulder, it's my are you ready? duchovny responding i'm ready, g. woman. duchovny went on to play hank moody in calfornication. and duchovny checking into rehab for sex addiction in 2008. just 24 at the start of x-files, anderson now stars as a police detective in bbc's "the fall." today creator and executive

producer cris carter saying, i think of it as a 13-year commercial break. the good news is, the world has only gotten that much stranger. the original series, nine see sons winning 16 shows like lost films like interstellar and next year's reboot of twin peaks proving that mind-bending thrillers are as popular as ever. as for the x-files, maybe this time they'll find it. >> for the record i'm still returning for the return of "lost in space." just saying. thanks for watching. tune in to good morning america and as always we're online at abc news.com. goodnight, america.

i've never seen this place so crowded. yeah, ever since marco took over, the food i is supposed to be unbelievable. oh, thanks. was that stefania? no. which one is she? amy, you know, maybe we should eat somewhere else. there's plenty of other restaurants where robert's ex-girlfriends don't work. no, no, no she took my boyfriend. now she can take my order. yeah, but i just don't t -- oh, my god. how is this so good?

this is just a bread stick! you got to taste this. no, no, i'm not going to eat. i want to be thin when i see her. listen, relax. i've seen stefania. she's nothing. you are beautiful. yeah? hello, debra! oh, hello. i am stefania. see? nothing.