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High winds are complicating efforts to recover remains and aircraft debris from the mountainous crash site
Captain of rescue operations tells CNN that very few bodies have been found whole
Recovery workers are being winched down in pairs, one to gather remains and the other to ensure safety
Seyne-les-Alpes, FranceCNN
—
It’s a dangerous task as well as a grim one.
The rescue workers battling to gather the pulverized pieces of Germanwings Flight 9525 and the remains of the 150 people on board must contend with high winds as well as treacherous terrain.
They climb up a rugged mountain, appearing to cling to its side by their fingernails.
Bit by bit, bag by bag, high wire daredevils hoist body bags hundreds of feet up to waiting helicopters, trying to remain stable in the high winds. Rescuers pin red flags on the earth when they discover new fragments.
Winched down from helicopters on to the steep, icy slopes, where debris lies scattered across hundreds of meters, workers have had to be tied together in two-person teams.
One is there to carry out the investigation and recovery. The second is charged with ensuring their safety as they’re buffeted by the weather.
Complicating matters, very few of the bodies have been found whole, Yves Naffrechoux, captain of rescue operations, told CNN on Friday.
And winds have picked up, making it difficult for helicopters to ferry the workers to the site in the French Alps in the first place, he said.
Authorities have deployed 45 Alpine police officers to help forensics teams – not accustomed to working in mountain ravines – recover the bodies safely, Naffrechoux said.
His team is based out of Seyne-les-Alpes, a normally sleepy Alpine village that since Tuesday’s crash has been transformed into a hub for the recovery operation.
The leaders of Germany, France and Spain have visited. The families of the victims have laid flowers and prayed at a nearby memorial. Journalists have flocked to the spot as they report the latest developments.
Meanwhile, the rescue workers have continued their hazardous mission.
Workers hope to build access road
Rescue workers continue their search operation near the site of the Germanwings plane crash. (Photo by Francis Pellier MI DICOM/Ministere de l'Interieur/Getty Images)
Francis Pellier MI DICOM/Ministere de l'Interieur/Getty Images
Before anything could be recovered, the position of the bodies and debris had to be mapped. Human remains must be treated with due respect despite the tricky conditions.
The workers are now removing more bodies from the site, Naffrechoux said. The priority remains to find all the bodies and the elusive second “black box,” the plane’s flight data recorder, he said.
Investigators hope, once found, it could yield more clues into what happened on the flight deck of the Germanwings plane before it slammed into the mountainside at about 430 miles per hour. Already, the Marseille prosecutor, Brice Robin, has revealed that cockpit audio indicated that German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz “wanted to destroy the aircraft.”
The recovery teams are trying to construct a road to access the site more quickly and aid the transportation of bodies to a DNA testing center where they are kept in refrigerated units, said Naffrechoux.
It’s hoped the process will take 10 to 15 days, depending on weather, he said.
‘Complicated process’
Testimonials posted by France’s Interior Ministry from rescue and recovery workers at the scene also give an insight into the tough conditions at the remote crash site.
Cmdr. Emmanuel G., of the Criminal Research Institute from the National Gendarmerie, said it was a “really complicated” process.
“We are working in two-person teams, whether it’s alongside (police) mountain guides, the local gendarmes or the alpine firemen and emergency teams,” he said. “We do not know how to continue in this situation otherwise, we really need them to ensure our security at all times.”
“It’s the first time police technicians and gendarmes are working together,” an unnamed technician in one of those two-person teams is quoted as saying.
“We have total trust in each other. He’s holding my life in his hands.”
A recovery crew works among debris of Germanwings Flight 9525 at the crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, on Friday, April 3. The crash killed all 150 people aboard and has raised questions about the co-pilot's mental state.
Yves Malenfer/Ministere de l'Interier/AP
French Gen. David Galtier holds up a picture of the second black box from Germanwings 9525 during a news conference in Marseille, France, on Thursday, April 2. The flight data recorder shows that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz purposely used the controls to speed up the plane's descent, investigators said.
BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers recover debris from the crash site in the French Alps on Tuesday, March 31. Flight 9525 was traveling from Barcelona, Spain, to Dusseldorf, Germany, when it crashed.
Yves Malenfer/Ministere de l'Interieur/AP
A helicopter drops rescue workers next to crash debris near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, on Sunday, March 29.
GONZALO FUENTES/Reuters/LANDOV
Forensic experts work near the crash site on Thursday, March 26.
Fabrice Balsamo/Gendarmerie Nationale/AP
Journalists stand in front of the Westerwald airfield in Montabaur, Germany, on March 27. Lubitz reportedly learned to fly here.
Frank Augstein/AP
Investigators carry a computer from the home of Lubitz's parents in Montabaur, Germany, on Thursday, March 26.
Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images
A police officer stands guard March 26 at an apartment building where Lubitz was thought to have lived in Dusseldorf.
Martin Meissner/AP
A helicopter lifts a rescue worker from the crash site on March 26.
ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP/Getty Images
Rescue workers continue to search the site of the crash on March 26.
Francis Pellier MI DICOM/Ministere de l'Interieur/Getty Images
Search-and-rescue teams land near the crash site on Wednesday, March 25.
F. Balsamo/Gendarmerie nationale/Ministere de l'Interieur via Getty Images
Debris from the plane is seen along a mountainside on March 25.
F. Balsamo/Gendarmerie nationale/Ministere de l'Interieur via Getty Images
French military personnel move up a mountainside March 25 near Seyne-les-Alpes.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The cockpit voice recorder of the Germanwings jet appears in this photo provided by the French air accident investigation bureau on March 25. The device is designed to capture all sounds on a plane's flight deck.
Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses/AP
A helicopter comes in to land near Seyne-les-Alpes, the staging ground for search efforts, on March 25.
Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
Rescue workers and members of the French Gendarmerie gather in Seyne-les-Alpes on Tuesday, March 24, as search-and-rescue teams struggle to reach the remote crash.
Claude Paris/AP
Wreckage is seen at the crash site on March 24.
THOMAS KOEHLER/PHOTOTHEK HANDOUT/EPA/LANDOV
Response teams gather in Seyne-les-Alpes on March 24.
BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images
Relatives of the flight's passengers arrive at the airport in Barcelona on March 24.
David Ramos/Getty Images
People hold hands walking through the Dusseldorf Airport on March 24.
Frank Augstein/AP
The arrivals board at the Dusseldorf Airport shows Germanwings Flight 9525 without a status on March 24.
Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images
People arrive at the Dusseldorf Airport on March 24.
Frank Augstein/AP
An employee of Swissport, the handling agent of Germanwings flights from Barcelona, speaks by phone at the Barcelona-El Prat Airport on March 24.
David Ramos/Getty Images
Relatives of people involved in the crash arrive at the Barcelona airport on March 24.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
A man in Madrid looks at a monitor with a map, released from the Flightradar24 website, showing the point where the plane's radar signal went missing.
ZIPI/EPA/Landov
This undated file photo shows the Germanwings Airbus A320 that crashed. Germanwings is a low-cost airline owned by the Lufthansa Group.
XINHUA/LANDOV
Germanwings plane crashes in France
CNN’s Antonia Mortensen and Nic Robertson reported from Seyne-les-Alpes and Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported from London. CNN’s Karl Penhaul, Ariana Williams and Dheeptika Laurent contributed to this report.
