Yesterday the world saw the disappearance of an A330 Air Frane during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris
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Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. The aircraft operating this flight on 31 May 2009 was flying through severe turbulence and lightning when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing the 228 people onboard.[3] The aircraft, an Air France Airbus A330-200, took off on 31 May 2009 at 19:03 local time (22:03 UTC). The last contact with the crew was a routine message to Brazilian air traffic controllers at 01:33 UTC, as the aircraft approached the edge of Brazilian radar surveillance over the Atlantic Ocean, en-route to Senegalese-controlled airspace off the coast of West Africa. Forty minutes later, a four-minute-long series of automatic radio messages was received from the plane, indicating numerous air data faults and subsequent warnings. The last transmission was sent at 02:14 UTC, indicating a pressurization advisory. The exact meanings of these messages are still under investigation. After the aircraft failed to contact air traffic control on either continent, a search for it was initiated. The aircraft is believed to have been lost shortly after it sent the automated messages.[4] On 6 June, two bodies and debris from the aircraft were found 680 miles (1,090 km) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast. The debris included a briefcase containing an airline ticket later confirmed to have been issued for the flight.[5] 26 more bodies have been found since, bringing the total number of confirmed fatalities to 28.[6] This accident is the deadliest in the history of Air France, surpassing the crash of an Air France charter flight from Paris-Orly Airport to Atlanta on 3 June 1962, and the airline's first fatal crash since Air France Flight 4590.[7][8] Paul-Louis Arslanian, the head of the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile (BEA, Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety), described the incident as the worst accident in French aviation history.[9] It was also the first accident in commercial service resulting in fatalities in the 16-year operating history of the Airbus A330.
AircraftThe aircraft involved was an Airbus A330-200, powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1 engines.[10] The manufacturer's serial number was 660, and the French aircraft registration was F-GZCP.[10] The first flight of the aircraft was on 25 February 2005 and at the time of the accident it had flown for 18,870 hours.[10] On 17 August 2006, F-GZCP was involved in a ground collision with Airbus A321-211 F-GTAM at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris. F-GTAM was substantially damaged and F-GZCP suffered minor damage.[11] F-GZCP underwent a major overhaul on 16 April 2009.[12] Between 5 May 2009 and 31 May the aircraft made 24 flights from Paris to and from 13 different destinations worldwide.[13] DisappearanceRio de Janeiro 22:03, 31 May Fernando de Noronha 01:33, 1 June Last transmission at 3.5777N 30.3744W 02:14, 1 June Paris Expected at 09:10, 1 June Approximate flight path of AF 447. The solid red line shows the actual route. The dashed line indicates the planned route beginning with the position of the last transmission heard. All times are UTC. The aircraft departed from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport on 31 May 2009 at 19:03 local time (22:03 UTC), with a scheduled arrival at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport approximately 11 hours later. The last verbal contact with the aircraft was at 01:33 UTC, when it was near waypoint INTOL ( The messages, sent from an onboard maintenance system Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) were made public on 4 June 2009.[19] These transcripts indicate that between 02:10 UTC and 02:14 UTC 5 failure reports (FLR) and 19 warnings (WRN) were transmitted.[20][21] The messages resulted from equipment failure data, captured by a built-in system for testing and reporting, and cockpit warning also posted to ACARS.[22] The failures and warnings in the 5 minutes of transmission concerned navigation auto-flight, flight controls, and cabin air-handling (codes beginning with 34, 22 , 37 and 21, respectively).[23] The twelve warning messages with the 02:10 UTC time code indicate that the autopilot and auto-thrust system had disengaged, that the TCAS was in fault mode, and flight mode went from 'normal law' to 'alternate law'.[24][25] The remainder of the messages occurred from 02:11 UTC to 02:14 UTC containing a fault message for an ADIRU and the Integrated Standby Instrument System (ISIS).[25][26] At 02:12 UTC a warning message NAV ADR DISAGREE indicated that there was a disagreement between the independent air data systems. At 02:13 UTC a fault message for the flight management guidance and envelope computer was sent. One of the two final messages transmitted at 02:14 UTC at location Weather conditions
East-west cross-section across of part of Atlantic Ocean in which Air France Flight 447 crashed showing depth of the sea floor. The vertical scale is greatly exaggerated for contrast purposes. A meteorological analysis of the area surrounding the flight path, showed a mesoscale convective system extending to an altitude of around 50,000 feet (15 km; 9.5 mi) above the Atlantic Ocean before Flight 447 disappeared.[30] According to commercial transport pilots familiar with the route, it is likely that the flight crew of the Air France aircraft was aware of the intensity of the storm in the flight path at that altitude long before actually encountering the thunderstorms.[citation needed] Currently the NTSB (National Tranport Safety Board) are questioning Air France authorities who gave the clearance to fly.[citation needed] [The NTSB has no formal authority to question any aviation matter. The NTSB issues recommendations based on presumed impartial investigation and analysis and nothing more. The pilot-in-command makes the ultimate decision to fly and, in conjunction with air traffic control advisories derived from weather radar and real-time PIREPS, makes the informed choice to continue flight or turn around]. From satellite images taken near the time of the incident, it appears that the aircraft encountered a severe thunderstorm, likely containing hail and extreme turbulence.[31][Turbulence is classed as Light, Moderate or Severe. Had AF447 really encountered "severe" turbulence and/or "severe" thunderstorms they would've radioed this PIREP to Atlantico FIR and also Air France and requested a diversion around the severe weather. They did not. All the crew reported was turbulence of insufficient severity to request course change; i.e., moderate] Detailed analysis of the weather conditions for the flight makes it clear that the aircraft's final 12 minutes were spent "flying through significant turbulence and thunderstorm activity for about 75 miles (125 km)", subject to turbulence and rime icing, possibly to clear ice or graupel.[30] Satellite imagery loops from the CIMSS clarify that the flight was coping with a series of storms, not just one.[32] Commercial air transport crews routinely encounter this type of storm in this area. Generally, according to pilots familiar with this route, when storms of this type are encountered, a course either circumnavigating the storm or diverting to weaker portions of the storm is normally taken.[citation needed] In this instance, shortly after the last verbal contact was made with Air Traffic Control about 350 miles (563 km) north-east of Natal, Brazil (station identifier SBNT) the aircraft likely traversed an area of intense deep convection which had formed within a broad band of thunderstorms along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ).[33] Turbulence in the vicinity of these rapidly-developing storms may have contributed to the accident.[30][32][34][35] Other flights near the areaAccording to news sources, 12 other flights shared more or less the same route with AF447 at the time of the accident:[36]
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1°21′39″S 32°49′53″W / 1.36083°S 32.83139°W / -1.36083; -32.83139) located 565 km (351 mi) off Brazil's north-eastern coast. The crew reported that they expected to use UN873 airway