Germanwings Plane Black Box 'Has Usable Data'

French investigators say usable data has been extracted from the cockpit voice recorder of Germanwings 4U 9525 but it has so far yielded no clues as to the cause of the plane’s crash.
They said the plane hit the ground in the French Alps at great velocity, suggesting no explosion in flight.
Flight 4U 9525 from Barcelona to Duesseldorf crashed after an eight-minute rapid descent on Tuesday.
The French, German and Spanish leaders visited the crash site on Wednesday.
Remi Jouty, the director of the French aviation investigative agency, said there were sounds and voices on the cockpit voice recorder but that it was too early to draw any conclusions.
He said he hoped investigators would have the “first rough ideas in a matter of days” but that the full analysis could take weeks or even months.
There had been earlier reports that the second black box – the flight data recorder – had been found. But Mr Jouty said this was not the case.
Mr Jouty said the plane’s last communication was a routine one with air traffic control.
The plane confirmed instructions to continue on its planned flight path but then began its descent a minute later.