Air France passenger jet vanishes from radar

[Taralindsey]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...nce-crash.html

Airbus issues warning to pilots in wake of Air France crash

Airbus has issued a warning to pilots in the wake of the Air France crash after admitting its instruments could register "incoherent" speed data.



By Henry Samuel in Paris
Published: 6:22PM BST 05 Jun 2009






Electronic messages from the Airbus A330-200 in the minutes before it went down early on Monday with 228 people on board disclosed an inconsistency in airspeed readings.
If the pilots were unaware that the readings were faulty, they might have mistakenly altered speed, jeopardising their aircraft.


The Airbus circular said the correct procedure when faced with unreliable speed indications was to maintain thrust as if the plane were climbing and keep the nose just above horizon level. A spokesman said the notice was being sent to pilots of all its aircraft and not just those who flew A330s.
It was standard practice after accidents to issue such notices, which are called Accident Information Telexes, to remind pilots of procedures that are outlined in aircraft manuals, the company said.
The "incoherent" speed levels could be caused by the airspeed sensors, which are tubes that work on air pressure, being obstructed, most probably by ice. The tubes are normally heated to prevent such blockages at high altitude.
More than 300 aircraft similar to the missing Air France jet are in service worldwide.
The incident has rekindled debate among pilots over whether the Airbus planes are "counterintuitive".
"This is a plane that is conceived by engineers for engineers and not always for pilots," Jean-Pierre Albran, a veteran pilot of Boeing 747s, told Le Parisien newspaper.
"For example, on a 747 the throttle is pushed by hand. You feel it move in turbulence. On recent Airbuses, this throttle is fixed. You look at the dials. You don't feel anything."
France is sending a nuclear submarine to help find the Air France jet. The search suffered a setback yesterday when it was confirmed that debris recovered from the sea nearly 700 miles north-east of Brazil was not from the aircraft.
Brazilian officials also said that a 12-mile fuel slick that had been sighted was not jet fuel but oil believed to have come from a ship.



This really makes me not want to fly.

[Jahpson]

what they need to do is issue throrogh inspections of each and every aircraft before they go back in the air.

I remeber there were times when I would be waiting for my flight and it would come in, drop off previous passengers, just get some fuel, unload-load luggage, collect us, and then go back up in the air.

[Vegas Long Legs]

^^^That is SW routine. When I go to LA ,I always fly SW cause they have about 15 flights a day from Vegas. This is xactly what happens. They even announce plane landing & we are going to run this around quickly.

[envyme]

This is horrible!!! Ugh, this is why I take sleeping pills that knock me out when I fly trans Atlantic...

[BagAngel]

Originally Posted by Jahpson

what they need to do is issue throrogh inspections of each and every aircraft before they go back in the air. I remeber there were times when I would be waiting for my flight and it would come in, drop off previous passengers, just get some fuel, unload-load luggage, collect us, and then go back up in the air.

I agree, it isn't right that they turn around so many times without a complete check up!

[Cornflower Blue]

Bodies Found From Air France Plane Crash


Breaking News

5:48pm UK, Saturday June 06, 2009

Bodies from the Air France passenger plane that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil have been found by search teams.

The news comes it was revealed the airliner sent out 24 automatic error messages in its final moments as its systems broke down one by one.
The head of the French agency probing the tragedy said signals from the jet before it disappeared showed its autopilot was not on.
Paul-Louis Arslanian said it was not clear if the autopilot had been switched off by the pilots or had stopped working because it received conflicting airspeed readings.
He said investigators were searching a zone of several hundred square miles in the Atlantic Ocean for the debris.
Plane manufacturer Airbus said an investigation found Air France Flight 447 had inconsistent readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm.
The plane, with 228 people on board, disappeared early on Monday as it made its way from Rio de Janiero, heading to Paris.

The wreckage of the jet has not been found, despite days of intensive searching by air and sea.
Brazilian officials said items discovered on Thursday turned out on closer inspection to be nothing more than rubbish, probably from ships.
A French nuclear submarine was on its way to the search zone, 600 miles off Brazil's north-east coast, to help look for the flight's black boxes.
It is vital to locate a beacon called a "pinger" that should be attached to the cockpit voice and data recorders, now presumed to be deep in the Atlantic, Mr Arslanian said.
"We have no guarantee that the pinger is attached to the recorders," he added.
Holding up a pinger in the palm of his hand, Mr Arslanian said: "This is what we are looking for in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean."
Two more Brazilian navy vessels were set to join three others already in the area.
Some 12 Brazilian and French aircraft were also flying over the zone.


http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...e_It_Came_Down

[keodi]

Originally Posted by PrinceAbdullah

not from the airplane.. woah thats freaky!!!

I agree...

[GirlFriday]

This is so bizarre. And scary, because I was flying over the Atlantic when this flight disappeared. I hope they can find everything they need to finish the investigation and know what went wrong.

[Pursegrrl]

Geez, this whole thing gives me chills....my heart goes out to the families and to the search teams who are putting themselves at risk in high seas and bad weather to get the answers.

[Roxanna]

It is very scary.
It was reported that there were other 12 planes flying in that area and none reported problem with the weather. So it must be some very unfortunate combination of factors that caused the crash.

Latest report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8087303.stm

Quote:

Two bodies and debris have been found from the Air France plane which went missing over the Atlantic last Monday, the Brazilian air force has said. The remains were taken from the water early on Saturday morning, said spokesman Jorge Amaral. Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find. All 228 passengers and crew on board AF 447 are believed to have been killed when the plane disappeared during its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. See a map of the plane's route "We confirm the recovery from the water of debris and bodies from the Air France plane," Col Amaral said at a news conference in the northern city of Recife. He later added that two male bodies had been found, as well as objects linked to passengers known to be on the flight, including a suitcase with a plane ticket and a backpack with a computer inside. A seat was also found, but there has been no confirmation that it was from the flight. The remains were picked up some 900km (600 miles) north-east of the islands of Fernando de Noronha, off Brazil's northern coast. Flight recorders The items were the first to be definitely linked to the plane, nearly six days after the crash. newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif Some debris thought to be from the plane was spotted earlier in the week, but items recovered proved not to be linked to it. Correspondents say that much of the search effort so far has been focused on finding flight data recorders, which have sonar beacons - or "pingers" - attached to them. But French officials say there was no guarantee the beacons were still attached to the flight recorders, and they may have been separated in the impact of the crash. The officials do not know what triggered the plane's problems, but it was flying through an area of thunder storms and turbulence. They said it sent 24 error messages minutes before it crashed. On Friday, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said a French submarine was being sent to join in the search since it had sonar equipment that could help locate the airliner's flight data recorders. The US is also sending specialised listening equipment.

[Sternchen]

Apparently the person found was still buckled into their seat...

[BagAngel]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090606/...a/brazil_plane

"..................
The French agency investigating the disaster, meanwhile, said the airspeed instruments on Flight 447 were not replaced as the maker recommended before the plane crashed in turbulent weather nearly a week ago............................."

[PrinceAbdullah]

Originally Posted by Sternchen

Apparently the person found was still buckled into their seat...

I guess this will let some familes let go of the hope that they are still alive. Hopefully some closure, but alot more needed, like how it happened...

[Sternchen]

This kind of makes me wonder...die the airplane fall apart / explode in the air and the people basically fell to their deaths, or did the airplane basically make a crash landing in the ocean?

[Jahpson]

Originally Posted by Vegas Long Legs

^^^That is SW routine. When I go to LA ,I always fly SW cause they have about 15 flights a day from Vegas. This is xactly what happens. They even announce plane landing & we are going to run this around quickly.

I was flying American airlines, I think. Or perhaps it was usairways

I never flew as before