article_snippet: (CNN)A quick descent.
article_snippet: According to online flight trackers, the Germanwings plane had been flying at 38,000 feet when, about 30 minutes into the trip, the Germanwings plane started descending.
article_snippet: Six minutes later, the Germanwings plane was recorded at 24,000 feet -- a drop of 14,000 feet.
article_snippet: the Germanwings plane continued to descend after that -- it's last recorded altitude was 11,400 feet.
article_snippet: The rate of descent indicates that the pilot was still controlling the Germanwings plane to some extent, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said.
article_snippet: If the engines had stalled, the Germanwings plane would have crashed in less time, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said.
article_snippet: The initial data about the Germanwings plane's descent means that the pilot could have been trying to make an emergency landing, or that the Germanwings plane was gliding with the pilot's guidance, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said.
article_snippet: A scenario where the Germanwings plane was gliding is potentially more dangerous because wide fields for landing would be hard to come by in the mountains, CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo said.
article_snippet: Another aviation analyst, David Soucie, said the quickness of the descent shows something went wrong, but also that the Germanwings plane was not out of control.
article_snippet: the Germanwings plane was descending "faster than an elevator at that point.
article_snippet: You're feeling the Germanwings plane down.
article_snippet: the Germanwings plane's pulling you down, and you can sense that," Soucie said.
article_snippet: A telling piece of data is that the Germanwings plane maintained speed as the Germanwings plane descended, he said.
article_snippet: the Germanwings plane could show that the pilot was aware that something was wrong and was controlling the speed as the Germanwings plane went down.
article_snippet: It was a controlled descent, and there was something that had gone wrong that he had no control over or he would have controlled no control," Soucie said.
article_snippet: The Germanwings pilot "was definitely aviating and navigating from what we can tell,Soucie said.
article_snippet: The Germanwings pilot was conceivably looking for a place to try to land, The Germanwings pilot said.