In spite of 2014 apparently being the safest year yet for aviation, planes do seem to be dropping out of the skies at an alarming rate.
The latest tragedy is the Germanwings Airbus A320 Flight 4U 9525, which crashed in the French Alps en route from Barcelona to Dusseldorf.
The plane crashed in a remote area of the French Alps, killing 150 people including 16 school students. Germanwings said the plane started descending one minute after reaching its cruising height and continued losing altitude for eight minutes.
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Engineering & Technology magazine 