AIR FRANCE FDR+CVR NOW FOUND

[raa57]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13255673

just the CVR to find now,maybe get some answers now.

regards terry

[nwadc10]

This is good news.

I had a Delta A330 captain in the jumpseat a couple weeks ago, after the main wreckage was found. I asked him his thoughts and while it's speculation, he suspects that the pitot tubes became full of water which screwed up the air data computers. With inaccurate (or maybe no) information the crew wasn't able to make the necessary corrections to airspeed/pitch/power. If they were in fact in a thunderstorm there wouldn't have been outside visual references and certainly would have had some degree of turbulence complicating the matter.

Again, this is purely speculation as far as I'm concerned but I thought I might share the opinion of another A330 captain.

[raa57]

hi justin,

yep good news, but has also been pointed out to me the black boxes are going back to france and as the NTSB arent involved,the BEA are likely to point the finger anywhere except there beloved airline or manufacturer.
time will tell

anyway heres an episode similiar to AIR CRASH INVESTIGATION about the incident http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTL3WfpMOM0,
been a while since i watched it but i think there main theory is super cooled water droplets high in the atmosphere turning to ice the second AF447 passed through it,and also there claiming that the AF447 pilots could have regained airspeed control by flying with 85% N1+5 deg pitch which should give a safe airspeed without any instruments..rather than concentrating on the endless stream of fault messages the aircraft was spitting at them

what they dont mention is that if AF447 had its pitot probes frozen up by super cooled water droplets,surely the wing surfaces would have been contaminated as well ,and the wings icing up would mean that flying at 85% N1+5deg pitch would be pointless..

interesting to find out the outcome even if it will be months if not years yet..

regards terry

[raa57]

And they have now found the CVR too, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13264573


great news!!

Terry

[raa57]

NEW REPORT in English.

http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/vol.af. ... 011.en.pdf

seems to talk a lot about the aircraft having pitch up attitude around 10-16deg yet the stall warning was going off,and that most of the PF inputs were pitch up inputs.not sure why they never pushed forward more.

Terry

[Brogs]

One speculation reckons they may have been so engrossed in attempting to manage the Systems they forgot to "fly the Aeroplane"

AVflash! Air France 447: Pilot Error Anticipated back to top


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WSJ: Air France 447 Pilots Missed Key Information



Sources speaking ahead of an official release of information expected Friday suggest that content collected from the cockpit voice and data recorders of Air France Flight 447 is building a case for pilot error. The investigation has so far implicated pitot tubes, which may have fallen victim to icing at 35,000 feet. But The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that "people familiar with preliminary findings" say that while the pitots did cause sensor malfunctions, cockpit displays functioned normally. Problems with the Airbus A330's pitot tubes led to a series of automation failures, disconnects, warnings and alarms for Flight 447. The sources say that while the crew was working the series of problems, they appear to have missed other essential information.



According to the Journal, the crew "apparently had difficulty" keeping track of information that included power settings and the aircraft's flight path. Information gleaned from 447's cockpit voice and flight data recorders have not yet implicated any major system failure or malfunction of the aircraft itself that could have directly led to the crash. But a report published by investigators soon after the crash looked at 13 other airspeed sensor malfunctions on Airbus widebodies and found that sensor malfunctions had caused both the autopilot and autothrottles to disconnect. It found that crews took up to one minute to adjust engine thrust, manually, and nine of the episodes led to stall warnings. Airbus and Air France were aware of problem associated with the pitot tubes. The airline received replacement parts (new pitot tubes) six days before Flight 447 crashed. The crash aircraft had not yet been fitted with the new parts. Airbus and certain carriers (including Air France) have since emphasized instruction in high-altitude stall recovery. All 228 on board Air France Flight 447 died when the jet crashed into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil on June 1, 2009. The impact crushed the bottom of the aircraft, suggesting it hit the water hard "abt 120mph" and at a relatively flat attitude.