Yesterday the BEA, the French accident investigation
agency, published its final report into the loss of an Air France A330. Flight
AF447, crashed into the Atlantic while on a scheduled service from Rio de
Janeiro to Paris on June 1 2009, with the loss of all 228
occupants.
The report refers to the icing of the pitot tubes leading to
inconsistent readings and the crew’s response to the situation, as the main
causes of the accident
The BEA made a total of 25 new safety recommendations, in
addition to the 16 previously issued. They include crew instruction and
training, aeroplane ergonomics, feedback mechanisms and surveillance of the
operator “to improve its effectiveness”.
Airbus issued its own statement in which it said “The
publication of the BEA’s final report now provides the opportunity to further
work on the lessons learned from this tragedy and measures to be applied to
avoid the recurrence of such an accident. Without waiting for this final report,
Airbus has already started working at industry level to further reinforce the
robustness of pitot probes requirements and actively supports related
activities”.
While Air France responded to the report, saying that “In its
analysis and conclusions, the BEA underlines a sequence and combination of
several factors – technical and human – that led to the loss of the aircraft in
just over four minutes. It confirms that the crew was properly trained and
qualified in accordance with regulations and that the aircraft systems were
functioning in accordance with design and met the applicable certification
criteria. The BEA report describes a crew who acted in line with the information
provided by the cockpit instruments and systems, and the aircraft behaviour as
it was perceptible in the cockpit: instrument indications, triggering and
stoppage of the alarms, aerodynamic noise, aircraft vibrations, etc. The reading
of the various data did not enable them to apply the appropriate action. In this
deteriorated aircraft cockpit environment, the crew, with the skills of one
flight captain and two first officers, were committed to carrying out their task
of piloting the aircraft to the very end. Air France wishes to pay tribute to
their courage and determination in these extreme conditions”.
The full report can be found at BEA’s web site http://www.bea.aero/en/enquetes/flight.af.447/flight.af.447.php
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