Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 plane crash

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: BBC

Air France and Airbus found guilty of manslaughter over 2009 plane crash

3 hours ago
Sofia Ferreira Santos


Getty Images

Air France and Airbus have been found guilty of manslaughter over a 2009 plane crash which killed 228 people. ... The Paris Appeals Court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer "solely and entirely responsible" for the incident, in which flight AF447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

The passenger jet stalled during a storm and plunged into the water, killing all on board. ... A court had previously cleared the companies in April 2023, but they were found guilty on Thursday after an eight-week trial. Both have repeatedly denied the charges and say they will appeal.

All 12 crew members and 216 passengers on board the flight were killed when the plane crashed into the sea from a height of 38,000ft (11,580m), making it the deadliest incident in French aviation history. ... The wreckage was located after a long search of 10,000 sq km (3,860 sq miles) of sea floor. But the flight recorder was not found until 2011, after months of deep-sea searches.

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In 2012, French investigators found that a combination of technical failure involving the plane's sensors and the pilots' inability to react to the aircraft stalling led to it plunging into the sea. ... While the pilots had been confused by faulty air-speed readings, they mistakenly pointed the nose of the plane upwards when it stalled instead of down. Since the crash, pilot training has been improved and the speed sensors replaced.

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Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czd2qmdvmq6o

[msongs]

1. cockpit needs 2 spirit levels, one for nose up/down and one for side to side roll

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Spirit levels are affected by acceleration. NT

[EX500rider]

3. Was entirely pilot error....what kind of a idiot pulls up in a stall?

The pilot flying, Bonin, had only 2,936 flight hours, of which only 807 hours were on the Airbus A330.

As soon as they got into trouble the more experienced left seat pilot (Robert, 6,547 flying hours, of which 4,479 hours were on the Airbus A330) should have said "MY plane!" and took over.

The icing event that caused the speed error/alternate law only lasted for just over a minute.

The issue was that he stalled it so slow (52k) the stall warning would stop, (all airspeed indications were now considered invalid by the aircraft's computer because of the high angle of attack) and as he pushed the nose down the speed would increase to where the alarm would start again and he would pull the nose up till it went off again. While that may have been confusing there is no stall recovery training that makes you pull up.

When the left seater figured out what was going on he put his side stick fwd but Bonin was still pulling up on his, so the inputs cancelled each other out. From there until the end of the flight, the angle of attack never dropped below 35°, so they fell from 38,000 ft and pancaked into the ocean.

[tonekat]

4. I remember reading that the more experienced pilot

...flew single engine craft for fun, and likely had more finely tuned aeronautical instincts. Sad all around.