Germanwings crews 'unfit for service' due to emotional distress

The airline said: “Due to emotional distress, some crew members are also unfit for service today"

Germanwings, the Lufthansa subsidiary that suffered a fatal accident yesterday, is today chartering in aircraft and crews from other airlines to cover for pilots who are reportedly too upset to fly.

Yesterday seven flights were cancelled.

The airline said: “Due to emotional distress, some crew members are also unfit for service today. Germanwings understands these circumstances, as crew members have lost beloved colleagues in the incident.”

This morning’s flight from Cologne to Lisbon was operated by Titan Airways, while the departure from Dusseldorf to Berlin was covered by Tuifly. Other aircraft have been chartered in from Air Berlin and Germanwings’ parent, Lufthansa.

Flights to and from Heathrow, Stansted, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow are operating normally.

This morning’s scheduled Germanwings flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf landed on schedule at the German airport, though carrying a different flight number - 9441 - from flight 9525 yesterday.

The Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, confirmed that three British people were aboard the Airbus A320 when it crashed in the French Alps, after a steep descent from its cruising altitude. It has also been confirmed that there were 49 Spanish victims.