Air France A330 Missing over the Atlantic...

[Branmuffin]

The latest info directs to some fault in the attitude/speed/reference computers which then triggered a number of other faults. But what caused that is rather unknown yet. Probably the failure of the primary flight instruments (with disconnection of AP+A/THR which is normal in such case) may have lead to uncontrollable flight situation (=loss of situational awareness?) in heavy weather.

I would agree that so far the evidence seems to be pointing to a problem with the pitot-static system or the flight computers/backup systems it fed data to, ultimately forcing the pilots to hand-fly the plane through rough wx, in the darkness, with at least some primary instruments failed.  We know for a fact that the autopilot was disarmed.. whether it was the flight crew doing it manually or the A/C responding to conflicting air data inputs (like what happened in the Qantas A332 incident) is unclear at this point.  But one thing is for sure either way - the disarming of the autopilot may indicate that something was causing errant airspeed/altitude/VS indications somewhere in the system, which forced the pilots to fly the plane manually.

To begin with, I understand that the pitot-static system on the A330 is triple-redundant (?) and how it could have suffered a catastrophic failure is a bit puzzling... But even so, what confuses me is why such a failure, while no doubt posing a significant threat to safety of the flight, would by itself ultimately lead to a loss of the airplane.  Even without airspeed, vertical speed, or even altitude information available for whatever reason, any pilot worth his salt should know the simple formula [pitch + power = performance]

I believe that almost all commercial airliners have angle-of-attack instrumentation onboard, and assuming the engines and attitude/heading reference system (I don't know what Airbus a/c use to sense attitude/heading.. anybody know?) were working normally, my assumption would be that the pilots should have been able to choose a power setting and pitch for an approximate airspeed.  I mean, all instrument-rated pilots should be proficient in flying under partial-panel conditions, and I would guess (although this is speculation) that Air France must have some sort of procedures for its flight crews  to follow dealing with the loss of primary flight instruments, right?

Basically, if the engines and control systems are all working normally, there is no reason for a plane to crash.. even with the loss of the pitot-static system and the indications it provides.  It sounds like there is still something else that we haven't uncovered yet.

(There is also the question of the ACARS vertical cabin speed alert... which would indicate a rapid loss of cabin pressure... )

[Dorito_25]

Qantas had a month or two were planes really went close to crashing. Luckily it didn't happen.

Oh yeah. I was on one of the planes that had problems! The news called it the "Queensland and Notable Terror Aerial Services" month. This is because there was an aborted take off, oxygen bottle exploded, nose dives (that recovered) and oil spills..it was a bad month for Qantas.

I can't get over the way they held the situation though... The plane that had that nose dive in Western Australia on its way to Perth from Singapore was a...(get ready for it) an Airbus A330. (Which is mentioned earlier...) I'm not sure exactly why the plane went down, but it's on Wikipedia under Qantas. Maybe the same thing happened to Air France, but the bad weather couldn't help them recover...

Anymore news about the Air France? I haven't heard much lately, just a computer was found and two male bodies...

[DSimm626]

Last I heard 10 hours ago.
2 bodies found Saturday by Brazil. 15 found Sunday by Brazil and France. Not really releasing details but the story did mention 2 males, 2 females and someone who was found still belted into their seat. Briefcase and laptop computer were found along with aircraft pieces.
US Navy sending 2 vessels with a sonar(or whatever its called) to be pulled by French ships that can pick up the ping of the black boxes at a depth of 20,000 feet.

[Teemu]

Last I heard 10 hours ago.
2 bodies found Saturday by Brazil. 15 found Sunday by Brazil and France. Not really releasing details but the story did mention 2 males, 2 females and someone who was found still belted into their seat. Briefcase and laptop computer were found along with aircraft pieces.
US Navy sending 2 vessels with a sonar(or whatever its called) to be pulled by French ships that can pick up the ping of the black boxes at a depth of 20,000 feet.

Er all ships has sonar... perhaps US navy is sending ships with ROV's so that they can investigate sonar echoes that looks like plane parts in the sea bed.

[thedr2]

[Teemu]

that is one sad pic *tears*

[vectorforfood]