An Australian mother and her adult son were among those who died when a plane operated by the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa crashed in the French Alps. The pair from Victoria were among the 150 passengers who lost their lives when Germanwings Flight 9525 ploughed into a French Alpine mountainside at more than 400mph on Tuesday. Rescue helicopters arrived at the remote crash site to find wreckage from the obliterated plane scattered across hundreds of metres, with no pieces of debris larger than a small car. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government is seeking to confirm whether any other Australians or dual citizens were on board. Scroll down for video . An Australian mother and her adult son were among those who died when a plane operated by the budget carrier of Germany's Lufthansa crashed in the French Alps . 'I don't think it gets any easier announcing the death of Australian citizens in a tragedy overseas,' Ms Bishop said. 'It would not be appropriate to disclose further details of our citizens at this stage due to the privacy considerations of the family. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims of this shocking tragedy. We extend our condolences to the governments of Germany, France and Spain and their people who appear to have borne the brunt of this tragedy.' A black box has been found at the crash site of Germanwings flight and will be examined immediately. Images of the crash site emerged as confusion reigned over the final minutes of the doomed Airbus A320 after air traffic controllers claimed they received no SOS despite the jet nosediving 32,000ft in just eight minutes. The plane was travelling from  Barcelona in Spain to the German city of Duesseldorf when it went down in the Alps in southern France. The pair from Victoria were among the 150 passengers who lost their lives when Germanwings Flight 9525 ploughed into a French Alpine mountainside at more than 400mph . A black box has been found at the crash site of Germanwings flight and will be examined immediately . 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the two Australians who have lost their lives,' Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday. The family of the Australian victims has been contacted. The airliner was carrying 144 passengers - including two babies - and six crew members. Sixteen German school students from the same class were also on board. French officials say there were 'no survivors' following the loss of the plane operated by Germanwings - a low-cost subsidiary of Lufthansa. Germanwings chief executive Thomas Winkelmann said the aircraft began descending at 10.45am, a minute after reaching cruising height of 38,000ft. This descent lasted eight minutes, he told reporters in Cologne. Radar and air traffic control contact broke off at 10.53am when it is understood to have crashed at more than 400mph. The last routine maintenance check of the aircraft took place on Monday by Lufthansa technicians. The last major overhaul was in mid-2013. German reports suggest the aircraft had been grounded just 24 hours before it departed Barcelona for Dusseldorf. The plane had suffered technical issues, including a landing gear problem. French emergency services workers and members of the French gendarmerie gather in Seyne, south-eastern France near the site where a Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed in the French Alps . Rescue teams based in the south eastern French town of Seyene prepare to takeoff to continue the search for bodies of those killed in plane crash . Sixteen German school students from the English-speaking Joseph-Koenig-Gymnasium in Haltern-am-See, near Dusseldorf were also on board the doomed flight . Mr Winkelmann said the captain on board was experienced and been with the airline and with Germanwings' parent company Lufthansa for more than 10 years and had clocked up 6,000 flying hours on this particular Airbus model. 2015 . March 24: FRANCE - A Victorian woman and her adult son are among 150 people killed when Germanwings flight 4U9525 crashes in the French Alps en route from Barcelona to Duesseldorf. 2014 . July 17: UKRAINE - 38 Australians among 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is shot down over a rebel-held area of Eastern Ukraine. March 8: LOCATION UNKNOWN: Six Australians among 239 people killed when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanishes en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. 2013 . October 2013: LAOS: Six Australians among 49 killed when Lao Airlines flight QV301 crashes while trying to land during a storm at Pakse International Airport. He added that teams from Germanwings were in Dusseldorf with the families of those on board and that Lufthansa and Germanwings' technical staff were on their way to the crash site to assist with the investigation. Debris from the jet, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, has been found scattered over a wide area near Barcelonnette in an inhospitable region of the Alps. About 150 firefighters and high mountain police were deployed to the scene, but officials have warned it could take days to retrieve any bodies. Grieving families, including those of the 16 schoolchildren killed in the crash, have been gathering at Dusseldorf airport in Germany, where the jet was due to land, to await news of the rescue and recovery operation. Australia's ambassador to France Stephen Brady is in contact with local authorities to discuss the retrieval arrangements. Australian consular officials are travelling to the town of Gap where they will liaise with French authorities on the recovery effort. Ms Bishop said it would be premature to speculate about the cause of the crash but said German airline Lufthansa, which owns the budget carrier Germanwings, was working on the assumption it was an accident. A rescue helicopter flies over the debris of the Germanwings passenger plane scattered on the mountain side . Debris from the jet, operated by Lufthansa's Germanwings budget airline, has been found scattered over a wide area near Barcelonnette in an inhospitable region of the Alps . The plane was travelling from Barcelona in Spain to the German city of Duesseldorf when it went down in the Alps in southern France .
Mother and adult son from Victoria among those killed in plane crash . They are among the 150 passengers to die when Germanwings Flight 9525 ploughed into a French Alpine mountainside at more than 400mph . Plane crashed en route from Barcelona  to Dusseldorf in Germany . No pieces of debris from plane wreckage is larger than a small car .