ben: the german president there joachim gauck.320 is the most successful model turned out by european aircraft passenger -- manufacturer airbus. it is considered very reliable. sarah: it is also popular with low cost airlines such as germanwings for medium haul flights because of its low operating costs. germanwings was originally set up as a low-cost subsidiary of german airline lufthansa. reporter: last year, germanwings took over operation of all lufthansa german and domestic -- european and domestic flights. they did this to stay competitive with low-cost rivals. they changed the color of their logo to black on social media sites immediately following the crash, and the ceo gave a press conference. >> we are all deeply shocked and saddened. a plane of our subsidiary, germanwings went down in the french alps around 11:00 a.m. local time. our immediate thoughts, concerns and prayers go to the friends and family of our passengers and crew on this black day for our company. reporter: germanwings was founded 13 years ago. its headq