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Speculating on this one. the important thing about the pitot tubes if indeed this contributing factor to it, if they froze up, this not only feeds information to the pilots and the autopilot itself, but this is a computerized airplane. it's all flied by wire. that information is required by the computers for all the air data information. >> we also know that apparently that plane had been checked out well. it was in, quote, good repair -- being checked out just yesterday as well, whether something was missed won't be known until we get the black boxes. mary, could you join in on this, on the i...

Flight, air traffic controllers lost communication with this plane and on the ground, the controller declared an emergency. with me, cnn aviation analyst les abend and in our london newsroom, cnn aviation analyst mary schiavo. les, something chad myers was just talking about, the possibility that these pilots may not even have known that they were descending. is that something that made sense to you, especially with these pitots that are being problematic lately? >> let's take it a step at a time. no, i don't think they wouldn't have known. but the profile that was shown, the bottom line, it d...

The typical speed, probably be cruising at a speed in excess of that. so 400 miles an hour on that rapid of a descent means it was a controlled descent. and i'm sure les has had to descend over the time faster than that. so 400 miles an hour does not sound particularly alarming to me at all. >> but i would imagine, les, that the obliteration of this plane -- and i'm now quoting from the president of the region in france who has described this as an obliterate, translated from something he said dislocation, but effectively obliteration of this plane makes sense when it hit. >> with my backgroun...

The national security council spokesperson. she is the assistant to the president for homeland security. this is what she is advising. she says that the president has been briefed on this crash, that u.s. officials have been in touch with their french, german and spanish counterparts, the authorities. they have been offered the assistance the united states. also this spokesperson sending thoughts and prayers saying that our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families and the loved ones. they are also referring all inquiries to the french authorities for updates on the investig...

There have already been human remains strewn as far as several hundred meters from the wreckage. jim, let us know if you pick up any other details on this for us. this is in the french alps, this is a flight that was bound from spain to germany. what you're seeing here are some of the first pictures of the rescue staging area that has been set up not far from the actual crash site. this location, seyne-les-alpes in france. you can see some of the other perspectives of these live pictures, there are numerous different rescue vehicles, most notably helicopters, lots of them. the helicopters pres...