At 10.41 a.m., the clocks stood still in Le Vernet. A minute's silence was commemorated in the community in the French southern Alps of the 149 victims of the plane crash ten years ago. The name Andreas Lubitz is sadly connected to Le Vernet forever. On March 24, 2015, the 27-year-old German Ko-Pilot steered the Airbus of the Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings on the way to Düsseldorf at a speed of 700 kilometers an hour against the mountain massif of the Trois-Evêchés. Nobody survived. The victims include 72 Germans.
Around 400 people of the deceased intended in the Le Vernet cemetery. Every year Lufthansa invites the closest family members to the place of the accident. The General Director of the Lufthansa Group, Carsten Spohr, resigned on Monday. Spohr emphasized how much Lufthansa sees itself responsibility for the bereaved.
“This crash triggered emotions and horrors worldwide. Ten years later, the pain is still very alive. Time did not extinguish the pain,” said prefect Marc Chappuis. It is the common responsibility to pull the teachings out of the catastrophe and to improve flight safety. The community has set up prayer rooms to protect the privacy of the mourners.
One of the few that commented on the press was the Spaniard Cristina subirate. She had lost her mother in the accident. “For me it brings peace to be near the place where it happened,” she said.
In Haltern am See on the northern edge of the Ruhr area, several hundred people gathered in the school yard of the Joseph-König-Gymnasium. There are 16 young people and two teachers of the school among the victims. At that time they were on the return flight from an exchange of Spain on board the accident machine. In the school yard, 18 Japanese ornamental cherries were planted for a permanent lively commemoration that will soon bloom again.
In the cemetery of the city of Haltern, where a symbolic classroom is reminiscent of the group, wreaths were laid down on the anniversary. The North Rhine-Westphalian School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) said at the memorial event in Haltern, time did not heal wounds-not even after ten years. “But today we remember not only what has happened, but also of the people who have enriched our lives in a wonderful way – with their nature, dreams and inspiration. All of these people are still missing. They leave a gap that nobody can ever close.” Even after all these years, the question remains unanswered why all of this had to happen.
