I had "Blogged" about this one last week, and now there is an addition to the story...
I don't know how I feel about this one, The Pilots messed up, not the plane or the airline, unless the pilots were representing the airline kinda logic. I don't know what the end results is unless is a lot of money involved and the anger of the families wanting "their pound of flesh" no matter the cost.
PARIS—France’s public prosecutor has launched an appeal 10 days after a Paris court verdict cleared Air France and Airbus of involuntary-manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447.
Flight AF447, an Airbus A330-200, was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, 2009, when around 4 hr. after takeoff and amid stormy weather, it crashed into the Atlantic killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.
Lawyers representing the families of some of the 228 victims had been calling for a trial for many years. The court process that finished April 17 had begun in late 2022. The court found that while errors had been made by both Airbus and Air France, “no certain link of causality” could be established.
The questions surrounding responsibility for the crash center on the pilots’ actions in the minutes before the accident and on their reactions to the faulty readings that were displayed as a result of problems with the aircraft’s pitot tubes.
In July 2012, following a two-year search for the aircraft’s flight data recorders, an investigation by France’s Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses (BEA) concluded the flight crew had become disorientated and reacted incorrectly to faulty readings from the pitot tubes, which had become blocked by ice.
French pilots’ union SNPL France ALPA said it was “profoundly relieved” at the announcement of an appeal.
“The public prosecutor’s appeal will allow the Court of Appeal to examine once again the responsibilities of Airbus and Air France in this tragedy, guaranteeing the victims’ loved ones access to a second hearing, which is a fundamental right,” the union says.
Air France declined to comment on the news that there would be a new appeal. Airbus says it “takes note” of the decision but has no further comment at this stage.
Does a pitot tube ice up only in extraordinary conditions?
ReplyDeleteIs there any warnings or alarms when it does, or are the pilots supposed to recognize when it happens?
I know airplanes want to save all the weight they can, but do they put heaters on things that aren't supposed to freeze up?
hey Kurt;
ReplyDeleteYeah they do ice up, but there are heaters on them and they are really hot, we have to pull breakers before we put pitot covers on them to protect them because the pitot's will cook anything on them. if they ice up it is for about 90 seconds then the heaters melt it. The pilot suffered spacial disorientation and basically stalled the plane. The A330 has 4 of them and as I understand it, only one computer was was having issues and the pilot ignored the others and pulled the stick back without increasing the power to the engines.
You're right MrG. Pilot error compounded the flight computer error.
ReplyDeleteHey Old NFO;
DeleteIt sucks, that accident is one they teach in "Human Factors" because of the litany of errors on that flight. From the pilot stalling the plane, to the co pilot making errors, and "hostile cockpit" was a factor in that one.