A poignant picture has emerged of some of the students who perished on board the Germanwings plane when it crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday morning.
Texts from the students sent to friends and family back home have also been published, with some saying they couldn't wait to return, and they missed their family.
There were no survivors on board the A320 Germanwings aircraft which crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday
Sixteen German exchange students died when the Airbus A320 went to ground in a remote region of the alps, killing all 150 passengers.
Elena Bless, one of the teenagers who died on the flight
The Year 10 students were from the Josef Konig Gymnasium School and had been returning from a stay with Spanish host families in Llinars del Valles, near Barcelona.
One, 16-year-old, Elena Bless, had been messaging a friend saying she "couldn't wait to come home", the Daily Mail reported.
Elena's schoolfriend Philippa, who had opted out of the trip, said many of her friends were excited to be coming back and had missed their families.
"I just can't believe they're not coming back," she added.
It has since emerged one of the pilots on board the plane was locked out of the cockpit when it went down. On Thursday an official with knowledge of the audio recordings retrieved from the recovered black box told the Associated Press one of the pilots was apparently unable to get into cockpit during the plane’s eight minute descent before it crashed into mountains.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr described the pilots as "experienced and trained" in a press conference in Barcelona Wednesday night.
Lufthansa has refused to identify the pilots, or give details of ages and nationality, but it said the co-pilot joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours.
The captain had more than 6,000 hours of flying time and been Germanwings pilot since May 2014, having previously flown for Lufthansa and Condor, Lufthansa said.
Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr described the pilots as "experienced and trained" in a press conference in Barcelona Wednesday night.
Lufthansa has refused to identify the pilots, or give details of ages and nationality, but it said the co-pilot joined Germanwings in September 2013, directly after training, and had flown 630 hours.
MORE ON GERMANWINGS:
- Germanwings Plane Crash Black Box 'Damaged' As Mystery Grows Over Final 8-Minutes
- Germanwings A320 Plane Crash: 3 British Victims Confirmed
- Germanwings Crew Refuse To Fly After Airbus A320 French Alps Plane Crash
- 'No Distress Call' And Rapid Descent At Centre Of Germanwings Mystery
- Germanwings Plane Had 16 Students And Two Teachers From Same School On Board
- Germanwings Plane Crashes In French Alps With 150 On Board