FRANCE: Investigators call for better pilot training after a report into the crash of an Air France Rio-Paris flight two years ago found the crew ignored stall warnings and standard procedures

Record ID: 382660

  • Title: FRANCE: Investigators call for better pilot training after a report into the crash of an Air France Rio-Paris flight two years ago found the crew ignored stall warnings and standard procedures
  • Date: 30th July 2011
  • Summary: LE BOURGET, FRANCE (JULY 29, 2011) (REUTERS) NEWS CONFERENCE DIRECTOR OF FRENCH AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY (BEA), JEAN-PAUL TROADEC VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) DIRECTOR OF FRENCH AIR ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY (BEA), JEAN-PAUL TROADEC, SAYING: "The first event which triggered it all is the disconnection of the automatic pilot following the loss of the speed indicators, very probably after they were frozen by ice crystals. At this time the pilot should have initiated a procedure known as 'Unreliable IAS (indicated airspeed)', a procedure which consists of taking an angle of five degrees, but the angle they took was far superior... That is why the plane flew upwards, the plane took a rapid vertical flight of 7,000 feet per minute... The angle they took was too much." JOURNALISTS NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) INVESTIGATOR IN CHARGE ALAIN BOUILLARD SAYING: "The recordings stop at 2 hours, 14 minutes, 28 seconds. The last values registered were an angle of 15 degrees and a vertical speed of close to 11,000 feet per minute. There was no signal of distress given by the crew, and as you know, the parts were found at the start of April at 3,900 metres under the sea." GRAPHICS BEING SHOWN AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (French) INVESTIGATOR IN CHARGE ALAIN BOUILLARD SAYING: "Neither of the co-pilots had received manual pilot training, at the recuperation of stalling at high altitude. That is why I have proposed two security recommendations. One security measure which treats the command on board and a security recommendation for the manual training of pilots." VARIOUS OF NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Accidents,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA3TMFFNA12BWON59QEPLV8S54J
  • Story Text: French investigators said on Friday (July 29, 2011) that the crew of Air France's Rio-Paris flight which crashed into the Atlantic two years ago ignored repeated stall warnings and failed to follow textbook procedures.
    France's BEA authority issued 10 new safety recommendations aimed at avoiding a repeat of the crash, which killed 228 people, including more training on flying aircraft manually -- a skill which industry critics say has been eroded by computers.
    The BEA report into the final minutes of flight AF447 found that pilots failed to discuss "stall" alarms as their doomed Airbus jet plummeted 38,000 feet and hurtled into the ocean at 200 km (125 miles) per hour, killing everyone on board.
    It revealed passengers were not given any warning as pilots struggled to avoid the crash in the early hours of June 1, 2009.
    The updated account, based on recently recovered black boxes, confirmed a finding in May that the crew responded to stall warnings by doing something that has mystified aviation experts ever since -- pointing the nose up instead of down.
    An aerodynamic stall -- not to be confused with stalled engines -- is a dangerous condition that occurs when wings are unable to support the aircraft. The textbook way of responding is to point the nose downwards to capture air at a better angle.
    But a stall of a commercial aircraft is a rare event and especially so at high altitude, for which crash investigators have made clear there is little or no specific training.
    The report appeared likely to spark a battle between Air France and EADS unit Airbus over whether the pilots' actions in failing to respond to a stall or whether faulty flight equipment were most to blame
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