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Rescue workers sift through debris on the mountain slopes March 25, 2015, after the crash of the Germanwings Airbus A320 over the French Alps.(Photo: French Interior Ministry)
Officials investigating the crash of a German airliner that killed 150 people have been able to extract critical audio data from one badly damaged black box but have not yet found the second box that is missing among the five acres of debris at the site high in the Alps.
"The accident site is difficult to reach. (Five acres) is a lot but not immense. If we go through it carefully, we will find the (other) recorder. Those are designed to withstand serious crashes," said Remi Jouty, director of France's aviation investigative agency.
Asked if there was any indication from the "usable audio" from the cockpit recorder, he said it was too soon to even determine whether the captain or the co-pilot is speaking.
He denied reports that a second box — or parts of it — had been found. French President Francois Hollande, speaking earlier, said the outer frame of the second box had been located but not the main section.
"We have not located the black box," Jouuty insisted, when asked about the president's statement. "We have not found any debris of the black box and in the history of air accidents, we know of boxes that are very damaged, but I don't remember any recorder broken into pieces."
The Gamma Sigma Sigma Zeta chapter at Drexel University posted this photo it says is Emily Selke on its Facebook page Wednesday<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Gamma Sigma Sigma Zeta Chapter)
The second box would provide electronic data from the Germanwings plane that went down in mountainous terrain Tuesday while en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf.
Two Americans were among the 150 people killed aboard the Airbus A320. The victims also included 72 Germans and 35 Spaniards. There were two victims each from Australia, Argentina, Iran and Venezuela. One each came from Britain, the Netherlands, Colombia, Mexico, Japan, Denmark, Belgium, Morocco and Israel.
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Deadliest air disasters in recent decades
Thomas Winkelmann, CEO of Germanwings, said the list of victims is not complete because the airline is trying to contact relatives of 27 victims. He also said that the nationality of some victims is unclear, partly because of dual nationality.
Among the passengers aboard the flight were two infants, two opera singers and 16 German high school students. It was the deadliest crash in France in decades.
The two Americans were identified as Yvonne Selke, an employee with Booz Allen Hamilton for nearly 23 years, and her daughter, Emily Selke, from Nokesville, Va.
"Our entire family is deeply saddened by the losses of Yvonne and Emily Selke," the family said in a statement. "Two wonderful, caring, amazing people who meant so much to so many. At this difficult time we respectfully ask for privacy and your prayers."
USA TODAY
German town reeling after crash kills 16 students
A message of mourning was also posted on the Facebook page of the Drexel University Gamma Sigma Sigma chapter, which Emily Selke had served as vice president.
"As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life," the sorority said in the Facebook post. "Emily will be greatly missed by her fellow sisters of Zeta. Please keep Emily, her mother and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this heartbreaking time."
The university said in a statement it is "deeply saddened to hear about the tragic loss." It said Emily graduated with honors in 2013 as a music industry major.
The list of nationalities was released as search and recovery operations resumed at the high-altitude site.
French President Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy flew by helicopter to the operations base in the village of Seyne-les-Alpes near the crash site to pay their respects to the victims and and to greet search teams.
French government minister Segolene Royal said what happened between 10:30 and 10:31 a.m. was key to the investigation, the Associated Press reported. After that time, controllers were unable to make contact with the plane.
A photograph released by the French Bureau of Investigation and Analysis shows the cockpit voice recorder from the Germanwings Airbus A320 aircraft.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: BEA via AFP/Getty Images)
French Transport Secretary Alain Vidalies told Europe 1 radio that the government plans to release information from the recorder as soon as it can be verified.
Officials previously warned that due to the remoteness of the crash site and difficult weather conditions the operation could last for days.
Germanwings said an accident is the most likely cause of the crash and the White House issued a statement Tuesday saying that no link to terrorism had been found.
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"We cannot completely rule out terrorism, but it is not considered the most likely explanation at the moment," French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told French news media. "We need to let the investigation do its work."
Germany's interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, likewise told reporters Wednesday that there is "no concrete evidence that third parties were involved in the causes of the crash," Reuters reported.
The crash so distressed Germanwings crews that many did not show up for work, forcing mass flight cancellations, the RT news organization reported.
USA TODAY
Alps crash 'a picture of horror'
"One must not forget: many of our Germanwings crews have known crew members who were on board the crashed plane," Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said in a written statement.
Lufthansa owns Germanwings, which was forced to cancel 30 flights across Europe, the Bild and RT news organizations reported.
Lufthansa and Germanwings called for a minute's silence to commemorate the victims at 10:53 a.m. local time Wednesday, and German officials said flags were flying at half-mast.
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