The 2009 emergency began with a stall warning two and a half hours into the Rio-Paris flight and nine minutes after the captain had left the cockpit for a routine rest period.
The Airbus A330 jet climbed to 38,000 feet and then began a dramatic three and a half minute descent, rolling from left to right, with the youngest of three pilots handing control to the second most senior pilot one minute before the crash
It also said that they didn't know how fast they were going. So, when the stall warning went off, they compensated by lifting the nose. This is what most likey caused them to plummet. It also said that a more experienced pilot would've increased the throttle first before bringing the nose up. It sounds like they were flying to slow and it was too late to correct.Maybe, it's very hard to tell though. It's sounding more and more like that problem with their pitot tubes is the culprit.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110527/ts_nm/us_france_brazil_crash
I wonder if this disaster could have been averted had there been a more experienced pilot at the helm.
The Airbus A330 jet climbed to 38,000 feet and then began a dramatic three and a half minute descent, rolling from left to right, with the youngest of three pilots handing control to the second most senior pilot one minute before the crash.
Maybe, it's very hard to tell though. It's sounding more and more like that problem with their pitot tubes is the culprit.
Bollocks, that's 6800 Mph.Article on Reuters said that it was falling some 10,000ft per second, and at a 15 degree pitch it was too steep to gain lift. That must have been terrifying.
Bollocks, that's 6800 Mph.
The report said that four hours and 10 minutes into the flight: "The autopilot [and] then [the] auto-thrust disengaged," and co-pilot PF said: "I have the controls." The report said the stall warning sounded twice in a row.
At four hours and 10 minutes into the flight the other co-pilot, referred to as PNF said: "So, we've lost the speeds." A second later the stall warnings sounded again the report said.
At about this time, "The speed displayed on the left side increased sharply," the report said. The aircraft was then at an altitude of about 37,500 ft.
The report said that at this time co-pilot PNF tried several times to call the captain back to the cockpit.
The aircraft then climbed to 38,000 ft and at around four hours 11 minutes and 40 seconds into the flight, the captain re-entered the cockpit. During the following seconds all of the recorded speeds became invalid and the stall warning stopped, the report said.
Co-pilot PF said "I don't have any more indications", and the co-pilot PNF said "we have no valid indications."
About a minute later co-pilot the PF said "We're going to arrive at level one hundred." This is a height of 10,000ft. About fifteen seconds later, the data recorder indicate "simultaneous inputs by both pilots on the sidesticks."
The recordings stopped at four hours 14 minutes and 28 seconds into the flight.
That must be terrifying to be on a plane that's about to crash
As with almost all such disasters it was a combination of failures that would not have been all that serious on their own, but came together in a terrible way.
The bit about the captain not being in the cockpit really isn't a big deal. Anyone who's a first officer on a widebody jet for a major airline has a huge amount of experience and is well trained. Don't forget that the worst disaster in aviation history was caused by one of the most senior captains at KLM.
Reminds me of something that happened to my cousin. True story. He was on a plane to New Mexico when all of the sudden the hydraulics went. The plane started spinning around, going out of control. So he decides it's all over and whips it out and starts beating it right there. So all the other passengers take a cue from him and they start whipping it out and beating like mad. So all the passengers are beating off, plummeting to their certain doom, when all of the sudden, the hydraulics kick back in, and the plane rights itself. It lands safely and everyone puts their pieces or, whatever you know, away and deboard. Nobody mentions the phenomenon to anyone else.
It also said that they didn't know how fast they were going. So, when the stall warning went off, they compensated by lifting the nose. This is what most likey caused them to plummet. It also said that a more experienced pilot would've increased the throttle first before bringing the nose up. It sounds like they were flying to slow and it was too late to correct.
Captains generally don't fly the planes nowadays anyway, they are merely the most experienced of observers whilst the first officer does the flying and only take command when / if the situation requires so.