Germanwings tweets news of Airbus A320 crash in French Alps: Airline says it has only 'recently become aware of media reports'

Plane was thought to be carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew

(Creative Commons)

The airline Germanwings said it had "no confirmed information" and had only "recently become aware of media reports" just after news broke that one of its Airbus passenger planes with around 148 people on board had crashed in the French Alps.

Live: Airbus A320 plane crash near Alps in France

“As soon as definite information is available, we shall inform the media immediately.

The airline directed people to a link for further updates but the link did not work.

Airbus also issued a statement on Twitter saying it was "aware of the media reports" surrounding the crash.

Germanwings is a subsidiary of the German Lufthansa Group airline. Lufthansa said it could not provide any information on what had actually happened to the plane in the lead-up to the crash either. A message from chief Carsten Spohr posted shortly after read: "We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew."

Germanwings later said it was aware of reports that one of its planes had crashed in the French Alps with 148 people on board. It is thought the plane was carrying 142 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew.