Seven people - including five New Zealanders - were onboard the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 which crashed off the coast of France this morning, reportedly leaving no survivors.

It is understood three bodies have been recovered. Radio New Zealand is quoting the French Coastguard as saying there are no survivors.

An Air New Zealand captain and three engineers, as well as a New Zealand CAA inspector, were onboard the Airbus.

At a press conference this morning, Air NZ chief executive Rob Fyfe said he did know the status of the New Zealanders but the company, and CAA, were liaising closely with the families of those onboard.

"We have grave concerns for the situation."

The captain on the plane was described as a very experienced pilot.

Mr Fyfe said the aircraft had been leased to German company XL Airways for the past two years and had undergone maintenance in anticipation of a return to New Zealand at the end of this week.

The plane took off on a technical flight from Perpignan, France, this morning (NZ time) destined for Frankfurt in Germany. It was flown by two XL Airways pilots.

After a brief touchdown it crashed into the Mediterranean.

Searchers have located much of the wreckage, which is spread over a 300m area in rough seas.

Divers hope to be able to locate the plane's black box, in up to 45 metres of water tomorrow.

â€œIt adds a dimension to the tragedy. This is a very poignant day for Air New Zealandâ€¦ to have this aircraft operated by XL Airways, to have this incident occur on the same day just adds to the tragedy.â€

("the same day") refers to the Air NZ DC10 (ZK-NZP)- that crashed into Mount Erebus in Antarctica on 28 Nov 1979, in which all 237 passengers and 20 crew died) .....http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/kids/nzdisasters/erebus.asp

An Airbus statement this morning confirming the crash said the aircraft had accumulated 7000 flight hours during 2800 flight cycles.

The statement said Airbus would be providing technical assistance to crash investigators and a team of five specialists had been sent to the site.

The A320 is a twin-engine single-aisle aircraft, capable of seating 150 passengers.

Airbus said its concerns and sympathies went to the families, friends and loved ones of those affected by the accident.