Posted on 08/02/2011 6:18:07 AM PDT by Still Thinking
LE BOURGET, France (AP) — A confused cockpit crew without proper training to head off high-altitude disaster flew toward it, instead, with wrong-headed maneuvers, no task-sharing and perhaps unaware their flight was about to end in the Atlantic Ocean.
Screeching stall alarms and incoherent speed readings from faulty sensors, bad weather in a darkened sky and growing stress make up the chaotic cockpit scenario in the final moments of the Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009. All 228 people aboard the plane were killed.
Friday's third report by France's accident investigation agency, or BEA, lays out almost second-by-second technical data on the flight's deadly trajectory but cannot answer the ultimate question — whether pilot error, equipment failure or other still unknown factors caused the crash.
The BEA's findings raised worrisome questions about the reactions of the cockpit crew — two co-pilots — as the A330 went into an aerodynamic stall and their ability to fly the A330 manually as the autopilot disengaged. The report expressed broader concern about the state of training of today's pilots flying high-tech planes when confronted with a high-altitude crisis.
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Many of the crews' actions "seem contrary to logic and we're seeking rational explanations," chief BEA investigator Alain Bouillard told a news conference, adding that the cockpit crew even seemed unaware the plane had gone into an aerodynamic stall.
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With the captain of Flight AF447 on a rest break, the report also expressed concern over "non-optimal task sharing" between the two co-pilots. Among the BEA's 10 recommendations, it wants authorities to further define criteria for appointing a relief captain to ensure better synergy among relief crews.
(Excerpt) Read more at pddnet.com ...
Mavis? Hell, Keller could have done a better job!
But in Hell...All the policemen are German, all the chefs are English, and all the engineers are French...
That's fantastic! And that coming from a Scots-Irish-German-Dutch engineer!
Uh, "If it ain't Douglas, you might as well mug us"?
“All your Douglas are belong to us!” - Boeing
Just waiting for some piece of company literature to refer to a “Boeing DC-3” I’ve already seen “Boeing F-15.”
Oh, that’s annoying. The other thing I hate is hearing people trash Douglas planes and tell how much better Boring’s are.
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