A Drexel University college graduate and her mother were among those killed when Germanwings Flight 9295 crashed in the French Alps on Tuesday.

Emily Selke and her mother, Yvonne, were travelling from Barcelona, Spain, to Duesseldorf, Germany, and were among the 150 passengers and crew lost. The State Department revealed their identities on Wednesday.

Family and friends remembered Emily as a compassionate and friendly person who was active in the Gamma Sigma Sigma sorority, Zeta chapter.

"Zeta chapter is mourning the loss of our beautiful alumni, Emily Selke," the organisation said in a statement. "As a person and friend, Emily always put others before herself and cared deeply for all those in her life. Emily will be greatly missed by her fellow sisters of Zeta. Please keep Emily, her mother and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this heartbreaking time."

The university said Selke was a music industry major who graduated with honours from the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design in 2013.

Yvonne was an employee of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., and a source told the Associated Press that she was contracted with the Pentagon's satellite mapping office, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. She was described as diligent and generous by her friends and coworkers.

The pair were from Nokesville, Virginia, and were among three Americans killed in the tragedy.

Flight 9295 lost contact with air traffic controllers and descended from its cruising altitude of 38,000 feet, eventually crashing in the mountains. Marseille prosecutor Brice Robin reported that the co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, locked himself in the cockpit and the conclusion drawn is that he intentionally crashed the plane.

The plane's first black box recorded someone banging on the door of the cockpit, and screaming from the passengers. Unlike in the US, European airlines do not require two people in the cockpit at all times.