Germanwings recovery boss speaks out

The remains of the British victims of the Germanwings plane crash are finally ready to be returned to their families. Dad-of-two Martyn Matthews, 50, student Paul Bramley, 28, and baby Julian Pracz-Bandresy were among 150 killed when co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, 27, flew a jet into a mountain in the French Alps. After a 10-week search, the budget airline has pledged to deliver every victim’s coffin in the next few weeks after claims of a mix-up with some of the death certificates. Businessman Martin, from Wolverhampton, student Paul, from Hull and sevenmonth-old Julian, who was travelling with his Spanishborn mother Marina, were indentified through DNA.

The hellish job of finding the bodies from Flight 4U 9525, which crashed on route to Düsseldorf from Barcelona, fell to Robert Jensen, 49, from crisis management firm Kenyon International.

Speaking exclusively to The Sunday People, he said recovery teams had also discovered fragments of phones and other possessions from the Airbus 320 debris. “I’ve been with the families and told them hopefully they will get something that links a recovered phone to them so they can get a picture that may have been saved,” he added.

“That is what families have asked for. Not documents or text messages but ‘do you have pictures of my loved ones’.” He said each family will receive a coffin containing fragments of their relatives and a list of its contents. “You don’t know at the time if the smallest fragment you recover is going to be the only thing you are going to recover for an individual.

“It can be a tooth, a finger, a fragment. If the family wants to open the casket, we always agree as it is their choice. “We have counsellors, people to assist the family and we will tell them the facts, not persuade or dissuade. “You have the mortal remains of your loved one, if you open this casket this will be one of the ways you will remember them, that is your choice.”

ll the belongings are returned, if ever. He said: “Jewellery and photos are the most claimed items. Photos you would want to send to your family and friends. “There were kids on the plane. Families want to see their trip, others want to see a grandchild, a particular smiling face.”