Airbus 330 center console Are not the instrument cluster in the top right Backup analog instruments ????
Posted on 07/29/2011 10:38:19 AM PDT by magellan
The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not realize the plane was in a stall, were insufficiently trained in flying manually, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before they plunged into the sea, according to new findings released Friday.
Based on newly discovered cockpit recordings from the 2009 crash, the French air accident investigation agency is recommending mandatory training for all pilots to help them fly planes manually and handle a high-altitude stall.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Struck me the same way.
“Okay passengers, you might want to take that last sip of Fresca....”
Actually, its gallows humor- mea culpa.
I believe there was a post under the article or in the article where some one was glad that their loved ones did not have to be tirtured knowing they were on the 3.5 minute glide to the scene of impact.
Airbus, contrary to popular belief, is not a bad airframe. That -330 and -340 series are so automatic with back up and independent instruments that it is hard to fathom what happened here. At the same time French pilots are as good as any around. I don’t know what to think..
According to my co-workers that have been there, that’s the European mentality for nearly everything. In most career fields, they get worked like a dog for the first 10-15 years. Then when they’ve “made it”, they spend the rest of their careers being paid six figures to walk around and point. Fringe benefits include 2 hour lunches, 8 weeks vacation a year, and staff meetings that are actually glorified coffee breaks.
Airbus 330 center console Are not the instrument cluster in the top right Backup analog instruments ????
“what are you doing Dave?”
“Dave’s not here.”
“...never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before they plunged into the sea ...”
Reminds me of the old Luftanza joke. 747 flying over atlantic loses power...Pilot comes on speaker: Auctung, this is your Pilot Speaking...plane has lost power and we have to ditch...pilot out. A few minutes later, Pilot comes on speaker again...Actung, this is your pilot speaking, we are preparing for water landing, prepare for rough landing. Plane lands in Atlantic, perfect landing, plane is afloat but beginning to sink. Pilot comes on speaker again...Actung, I, your pilot, has made a wonderful correct landing in the Atlantic. I invite you to swim with me out to the life rafts....to those who cannot swim, THANK YOU FOR FLYING LUFTANZA.
I would also do this to them while flying simulated IFR. At a high angle of attack the artificial horizon would topple and they would have to fly it with nothing except rate of turn and air speed. You must always “fly the plane.”
Question: Does the Airbus have mechanical instruments as their backup inturmentation or is the whole damn think connected to the computers?
.........with all due respect sir, obviously the French DO NOT produce quality pilots..............one night a couple years back these guys/gals flew this plane into the Atlantic and killed 228 folks............that is one undeniable fact!
Now comes this report saying they did not know what the hell they were doing, “THE PILOT” was on a break and there was no warning to passengers. Given this set of facts, and assuming they are accurate, these guys/gals were poorly trained............or poorly motivated..........or poorly something.............!
Let’s at least hold our pilots accountable, since we don’t anybody else in this PC world so my kids and yours are safe when they get on one of these things..................
I guess it should also be noted, in the interest of accuracy and fairness to the pilots, that this report also names Air Bus parts as culprits..........don’t know why this is not surprising!!!!! But, a pilot friend of mine agrees with you and simply says “there is no excuse for not being able to fly your airplane manually or for apparently being oblivious to the fact your nose is aimed for sharksville”................these guys/gals, according to this article, lacked this skill set due to no training...........
Sounds like equipment malfunction. However, not being a pilot I still have to ask were there no visual cues? Did the storm block the flight crew from seeing the plane was falling?
I don’t trust socialists to create anything more complicated than a cigar.
“With a plugged pitot port, the static was still open, and caused the altimeter to show a climb.”
Altimeters don’t use the pitot. Airspeed indicators do.
Being over water is very disorienting for a pilot even during the day. And I think this happened at night?
“So whose fault is that?
Not the pilots.”
Pilots have a significant degree of input into what they are trained. I blame the pilots as they forgot basic flight training. It doesn’t take advanced training to know how to deal with a faulty airspeed indicator.
“altimeter unwinding like its broke, rate gage pegged at down, and we don’t have a problem? “
Bingo. Not to mention they were pitched way up all the way down to the water.
Whoever passed them to flight status is to blame.
“At the same time French pilots are as good as any around.”
aue contrare mi amigo,
the end results indicate something completely different.
If those pilots were “as good as any around” then the plane would not have smacked into the Atlantic.
“The French produce as quality a pilot as anyone - so what went wrong here?”
Well that’s a scary thought. Those pilots flew a perfectly flyable airplane into the water and killed everyone. I sure hope other pilots are better than that.
Altimeter is plugged into the static system
I picture the plane slightly nose up and pitching wing tip to wing, in that position and falling the whole time.
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