[raygun]

Pilot's union expresses outrage at media for being canon fodder thrown to the wolves and sacrficed as scapegoats:

http://www.lesechos.fr/entreprises-s...concernant-le-rio-paris-164330.php

[raygun]

From The Independent (a British publication):

Pilot error emerges as the most likely cause of Air France crash

By John Lichfield in Paris
Wednesday, 18 May 2011

Pilot error is emerging as the most likely cause of the crash of the Air France Rio-Paris airbus which plunged into the South Atlantic in June 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

Preliminary investigation of black-box flight recorders, found three miles down in the ocean last month, suggest there was no major technical failure in the Airbus A330.

Separately, The Independent has learned that investigators believe the senior pilot may have been absent from the cockpit when the aircraft dived into the ocean four hours into its flight. His absence was not, in itself, unusual. There were two less-experienced pilots aboard.

[snip]

EXCERPT: read entire article at above link

EDIT: the author of the above piece is apparently a rather well respected political journalist. Its the "if Walter Cronkheit is saying it, then it must be true." credibility stamp of approval.