dussledorf. now the town is in mourning. just heartbreaking, rosie. reporter: absolutely christine. we re here at the airport where the flight of course was intended before the crash took place. and it was here that many of those families came on tuesday, yesterday, when they heard news of the crash in search of answers only to have their worst fears confirmed to find out that their loved ones were on board. so terrible scenes here and across germany, people mourning. they did set up a crisis center here at the airport to help those family members deal with the trauma. there have been psychologists on hand to help them deal with the tragedy that they re suffering. meanwhile, the airline has also offered to fly family members who would like to go to the scene or near the scene in the region of the french alps just so that they could be nearer to the crash, nearer to their lost loved ones. so the airline, they re doing what they can to support the families affected. and meanwhile, the
many of the families came yesterday to get news and to receive that terrible news that it was their family members on board. there s a crisis center set up here to provide support to those traumatized by all of this. they ve also been offered by the airline, if they want to to fly to the site or near to the site of the crash just so that they can be near to their lost loved ones. and meanwhile, germanwings, the airline, has said that some of its crew have asked not to travel receiving the news of the crash and, of course of their colleagues lost in this terrible tragedy. many details unfolding. 67 german nationals, a number that may change as more details emerge. christine? some of those crew members don t want to fly right now, as they mourn their colleagues. thank you so much for that rosie. now, the king of spain canceling a state visit to france to return home this morning. the flight originated in barcelona, and a count of spanish surnames suggest about 45 of those passengers
unimaginable grief for all the family members on board. the plane was scheduled to land in dusseldorf where many families have traveled to wait for word on their loved ones. that is where we find our rosie tompkins. we can only imagine the anguish of these family members right now. what support mechanisms have been put in place to help them deal with this tragedy, and how much information are they getting from the airline at this time? reporter: as you say, here where the flight was intended at dusseldorf airport is where so many of those family members headed when they heard news of the crash yesterday, in search of answers only to have their worst fears confirmed that their loved ones were on board. the airplane set up a crisis center to provide them the support they could in the form of counseling and psychologists to help deal with the trauma. they also offered to fly family to the region in the french alps
france we heard from the interior minister say that the black box that was recovered yesterday was the flight cockpit recorder. that black box, he said had been damaged in the crash, but they hope to have it fixed in the coming hours. christine? erin mclaughlin, thank you for that. passengers aboard germanwings flight 9525 came from all over europe as well as a handful from south america, asia and australia. nearly half of them at least 67 were german. the german chancellor angela merkel says the crash has plunged germany, france and spain into deep mourning. today she will travel to that crash site. 16 students and 2 teachers on the flight were returning to the town of haltern near dusseldorf after a week in an exchange in spain. now that town is in mourning. cnn s rosie tompkins joins us from dusseldorf. people from all walks of life on that flight. this was a budget airline. so many of them in europe over the past decade allowing people
dusseldorf. two teachers also were on board. the mayor of the town appeared yesterday. he spoke in public and was visibly very shaken and emotional, talking about a town in shock. he said you could feel it everywhere. also has emerged these two opera singers on board. they were also from the region. they had been performing a series of operas at the barcelona opera house and were flying back. one of them the female maria, was traveling with her husband and baby on board. so these personal details emerging giving faces and names to those numbers which really bring into focus the personal tragedy suffered christine. 67 german nationals, a number that could continue to change as the story unfolds, christine. rosie for us in dusseldorf thank you. the king of spain returning home this morning. the germanwings flight ormg originated in barcelona. about 45 passengers were spanish