--- description: Families of some Germanwings crash victims wrote an open letter to the airline's CEO on Tuesday after an "insulting compensation" offer. title: Read What Families of Germanwings Crash Victims Told the Airline's CEO image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e4e92fabff79e81/69885bdb524fc0dcfcdf3ac7/germanwings-letter-lufthansa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Aviation](/tag/aviation/) ## Aviation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Read What Parents of Germanwings Crash Victims Told the Airline's CEO  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2015 9:33 PM CUT  People arrive at a holding area for friends and relatives of passengers on Germanwings Flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf at Dusseldorf International Airport on March 24, 2015, in Dusseldorf, Germany. People arrive at a holding area for friends and relatives of passengers on Germanwings Flight 4U9525 from Barcelona to Dusseldorf at Dusseldorf International Airport on March 24, 2015, in Dusseldorf, Germany.Sascha Steinbach—Getty Images  by [Jack Linshi](/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 21, 2015 9:33 PM CUT The parents of 16 high school classmates killed in the [Germanwings plane crash](http://time.com/3756051/germanwings-plane-crash-safety/ "undefined") delivered a scathing open letter to the airline’s chief on Tuesday, amplifying other families’ complaints of the “deeply insulting” compensation offers made in recent weeks. In the [German-language letter](http://www.tagesschau.de/inland/germanwings-absturz-183.pdf "undefined"), made public by the families’ lawyer, the victims’ parents accuse Carsten Spohr, CEO of parent airline Lufthansa, of neglecting them in the aftermath of the March 24 crash. --- > “” --- A Lufthansa spokesperson has denied the claims made in the letter, stating that Spohr has made every effort to speak with victims’ families, the [Associated Press reported.](http://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2015/07/21/germanwings-crash-families-accuse-airline-of-ignoring-them "undefined") Spohr has also attended many services for victims, including one in Haltern, Germany, where the 16 students had attended school, the spokesperson said. [A total of 156 passengers and crew were killed in the crash of Germanwings Flight 9525.](http://time.com/3759605/germanwings-airplane-crash/ "undefined") Prosecutors have claimed it was a deliberate act by the mentally ill co-pilot. **Read Next:** [_3 Charts Showing How Airlines Put a Price on Crash Victims’ Lives_](http://time.com/3763541/germanwings-plane-crash-settlement/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3966741/germanwings-letter-lufthansa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3966741/germanwings-letter-lufthansa/"},"headline":"Read What Parents of Germanwings Crash Victims Told the Airline's CEO","datePublished":"2015-07-21T21:33:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:27:04.407Z","description":"\"One of your pilots has killed our children\"","url":"https://time.com/3966741/germanwings-letter-lufthansa/","keywords":["Aviation","Germany"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e4e92fabff79e81/69885bdb524fc0dcfcdf3ac7/germanwings-letter-lufthansa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1e4e92fabff79e81/69885bdb524fc0dcfcdf3ac7/germanwings-letter-lufthansa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Germanwings Letter Lufthansa","caption":"Germanwings Letter Lufthansa","creditText":"Sascha Steinbach—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/aviation/","name":"Aviation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3966741/germanwings-letter-lufthansa/","name":"Read What Parents of Germanwings Crash Victims Told the Airline's CEO"}}]}] ```