One year on from the tragic crash of Germanwings aircraft in France

ALTHOUGH the actual crash occurred on March 24 2015, resulting in the death of 150 passengers and crew, hundreds of people in both Spain and Germany took part in ceremonies on March 23 to remember the Germanwings tragedy in which a suicidal pilot crashed his plane into a French mountainside.

Ceremonies were held at the airports in Barcelona from where the plane took off and in Dusseldorf, its intended destination, and plaques in memory of those who were killed were unveiled at both airports.

Relatives of the 50 Spanish victims, many dressed in black, arrived for the ceremony outside Barcelona’s Terminal 2 to be joined by emergency service workers who took part in the rescue operation, as well as representatives of the Government of Catalonia and Spain’s acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

“Transportation security must continue to be one of our main priorities,” Rajoy said, especially in light of the bombing of Brussels airport the previous day.

Flags flew at half-mast and 149 candles were lit in memory of the passengers and crew who were killed, missing just one, which would have represented the pilot who deliberately crashed the aircraft.