France is reeling following the first plane crash on its soil in 15 years.<br /><br /> In the alpine town of Barcelonnette, near to the crash site, eyewitnesses have recounted the moment Germanwings flight 4U9525 plummeted to the ground.<br /><br /> Several spoke of seeing a plane in distress moments before hearing a huge explosion.<br /><br /> “I saw it appear over the ridge of the mountain. And I soon realised it couldn’t possibly get far,” said one man.<br /><br /> Another woman described an explosion of the kind heard when dynamite is used to clear heavy snowfall in the mountains.<br /><br /> “We heard a huge din and the sound of a very powerful plane engine, echoing around the mountains behind us,” she said. <br /><br /> “Then I heard the sound of the impact – a very loud sound, similar to one you might hear when dynamite is exploded to cause controlled avalanches.”<br /><br /> While another man saw smoke billowing from the site of the accident:<br /><br /> “We were chopping wood when we heard the sound of the impact and afterwards we saw smoke rising,” he re
