The French Civil Aviation Authority has confirmed that 150 people were on board the plane, which includes 142 passengers and eight crew members. The Germanwings plane was bound for Dusseldorf after taking off from Barcelona.

What was it or who was it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/25/world/europe/germanwings-crash.html

Did they descend the 14,000 feet within those minutes just by freefall or was it manual?