‘There were no whole bodies’

A French prosecutor says the Germanwings plane most probably crashed by voluntary descension.

A rescue worker climbs past debris at the plane crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes, France, Wednesday, March 25. Picture: Laurent Cipriani Source: AP

RECOVERY teams are facing the dauntingly grim task of scouring an area spanning thousands of metres on tough mountain terrain in the task to find body parts of crash victims from the downed Germanwings flight.

In a chilling press conference outlining the nature of the flight's last moments, French authorities detailed the difficulty in identifying victims and collecting body parts on the mountain morgue.

Considering the nature of the impact and the state of the bodies, it is likely to take weeks to account for all the parts.

"Imagine 150 victims in an area of over two hectares, between 1600 and 2000 metres," said Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin.

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Night falls on the alps near the area where the Germanwings flight crashed. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid Source: Getty Images

Rescue workers work on debris at the plane crash site near Seyne-les-Alpes. Picture: Laurent Cipriani Source: AP

Search and rescue teams attend to the crash site of the Germanwings Airbus in the French Alps. Picture: F. Balsamo Source: Getty Images

A Marseille prosecutor says the co-pilot of a Germanwings jet that went down in the French Alps, killing 150 people, appears to have crashed the plane deliberately. Rough Cut (No reporter narration)

The process is made easier by flags placed on the slope to mark locations of victims but the recovery is expected to last until the end of next week as teams face the even tougher task retrieving, identifying and delivering the bodies safely to ground.

"There were no more whole bodies, Fabrice Rouve, who works with the High Mountain division of the gendarmes told the New York Times.

French military personnel walk up the mountainside. Picture: Peter Macdiarmid Source: Getty Images

25 March 2015. Seyne-les-Alpes. Helicopters over the area of the crash of Germanwings flight where 150 people died. Pic. Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

A gendarme at the area of the crash. Picture: Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

A French prosecutor says the Germanwings plane most probably crashed by voluntary descension.

Mr Robin detailed the "evacuation" process, where teams collect parts and send them back via helicopter.

"We put them on body bags in a stretcher and then they are put down in a nearby unit where the post mortem is carried out.

"Then we continue with the DNA identification.

"This is why these operations will take quite a long time."

The technique is favoured by teams "due to the very difficult mountain terrain".

Angela Merkel, Francois Hollande and Mariano Rajoy visit the area near the Germanwings plane crash site. Picture: Ella Pellegrini Source: News Corp Australia

French police close the road the road that leads up to the crash site. Picture: Patrick Aventurier/ Source: Getty Images

French soldiers of the 4th Hunter Regiment of Gap patrol on March 25, 2015. Picture: Boris Horvat Source: AFP

Passengers on the ill-fated Germanwings plane only realised something was wrong in the final few minutes, a French prosecutor says. Sky News

The crash site is inaccessible on foot and by road and helicopters are unable to land on the slopes because there is nowhere flat enough to make a safe landing.

Recovery teams must be lowered down to the area by a cable and inexperienced officials must be accompanied by experienced rescuers to ensure they don't slide down the slope.

Families of the victims are anxious to retrieve their loved ones bodies but "until the full DNA is carried out and finalised it's only at that point I can give the bodies back," said Mr Robin.

"But the DNA takes a while."

150 people died on the flight from at least 15 countries, with the biggest contingent of losses from Spain and Germany.

16 high school students are among the dead, along with opera singers Oleg Bryjak and Maria Radner and Australian mother and son Carol and Greig Friday.

A helicopter flies near Seyne, near the site where the Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed. Picture: Boris Horvat Source: AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L), French President Francois Hollande (R) and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy pay their respect to the victims in Seyne-les-Alpes. Picture: Christophe Ena Source: AFP

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