I recently read Popular Mechanics’ riveting article reconstructing the last minutes Air France 447, which in 2009 disappeared without explanation over the Atlantic between Rio and Paris. Using the cockpit transcript, the article reveals that the pilots essentially flew a fully functioning passenger jet into the sea. Why? It appears that a temporary loss of flight speed data and then the disconnection of autopilot systems panicked a copilot into lifting the nose of the plane. He then more or less kept the stick pulled all the way back as the plane lost forward speed and plunged into the ocean, paying no attention to dozens of blared stall warnings. Here’s a bit of the transcript and Popular Mechanics’ commentary:
Continue reading Stewart Baker…
(photo credit: Arnoldo Riker)
