'I thought it was an avalanche' Witnesses describe moment doomed Germanwings plane crashed

All 150 passengers on board the ill-fated Airbus A320 were killed after the plane plunged from its cruising height of 40,000 feet to 6,200 feet in 8 minutes, which aviation experts have described as a "catastrophic loss" of altitude. 

It is thought the dead included 16 German schoolchildren on an exchange trip to Spain, two teachers and two babies.

Schoolgirl Lucille Polizzi described the moment she was was standing outside with her father when they heard a strange noise, which she thought was an "earthquake or avalanche."

The 18-year-old said: “We were outside and then suddenly we heard this big noise. I thought it was an earthquake. We have earthquakes fairly frequently here, just small ones. 

"I wasn’t afraid. My father thought it was a fighter jet but we couldn’t see any.

“The noise lasted probably seven or eight seconds. Then it stopped. There was nothing for maybe 15 to 30 seconds. Then a second noise. 

"The same as the first noise and it lasted about the same time. I wondered then if it was perhaps an avalanche."

But Lucile didn't have any idea she had just heard the last moments of the tragic flight, which was on route to Düsseldorf from Barcelona in Spain. 

She added: “I wasn’t worried about it. And I didn’t think about it too much until I went into Barcelonnette later and people asked me if I knew about the plane crash. 

"I was shocked and really sad. For a plane to crash just three kilometres away with so many people killed is just so terrible."

Police predict it will "take days to recover the victims and debris" from the obliterated crash scene, in the Massif des Trois évêchs in the valley of Haute-Bléone, in the Digne region near the ski resort of Barcelonnette. 

Eyewitness Daniel Armanni, manager of newsagents in Foux d'Allos said he saw the plane minutes before it crashed.

He said: “I heard the sound of a plane over the Foux d'Allos, I was surprised because I found it a bit low.

"It was a little past 10am. I said to myself it’s strange that it’s past low. "

"I saw a white trail from the plane in the sky, I don’t know if that was the one that crashed because it disappeared behind the Sestrière mountains.

Shortly before the crash of the Airbus A320 this morning, the owner of a sawmill in Prads, in Haute-Bléone, saw the aircraft in trouble.

Sébastien Giroud told local media: "I didn’t see much, perhaps for 2, 3 seconds. The plane was flying very low, I don’t know maybe 1,500 or 2,000 metres.

"It was impressive, it seemed it was going down.

"I said to myself: 'It won’t pass the mountains'. I didn’t hear any particular noise.”

Another witness, a local farmer who led rescuers to the scene, said the plane "blew up completely."

Jean-Christophe told French radio: "The plane smacked straight into the wall of the mountain and just blew up completely.

"I saw smoke, bits of plane, none very big. Everything has exploded and sprayed over the scene. There is really nothing left. Given the impact I cannot imagine the bodies are whole."

Other witnesses have described hearing an explosion "like the sound of dynamite."