Air France A330 Missing

[Mayfly]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8076848.stm

it appears it & disappeared off radar approx 200 miles out of Rio on its way to Paris

[Saracenman]

doesn't sound good

very unusual for an Airbus too - considered one of the safest aircraft of all.

possibly struck by lightning? never underestimate the power of Mother Nature!

sm

[Wedgy]

An Air France Airbus A330-200 has vanished en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Brazilian, African, Spanish and French ATC have been unsuccessful in trying to contact the aircraft.

Flight AF447 departed Rio de Janeiro at 19:03 yesterday. Air France confirms that it experienced "strong turbulence" while flying through a thunderstorm at about 02:00UTC.

The aircraft then generated an automated message about a quarter of an hour later, at 02:14UTC, which Air France says was "indicating a failure of the electrical system" while the flight was in a remote coastal region.

Air France has confirmed the aircraft as airframe 660, registration F-GZCP, which had accumulated 18,870hr in flight. The twin-jet, powered by General Electric CF6-80E engines, was put into service in April 2005.

The carrier says the captain had logged 11,000hr including 1,700hr on A330 and A340 aircraft.
One of the two co-pilots had a total of 3,000hr, the other 6,600hr, with 800hr and 2,600hr on A330/340s respectively.

Air France adds that the aircraft last checked in for maintenance on 16 April.

It has confirmed that 216 passengers, including eight children, plus a crew of 12 were on board the flight.


This is not looking good.

[Jigsaw]

I hate this stuff

[Mackrick]

[Wedgy]

News on the TV makes very grim viewing

[Pujgnie]

Plus - that is in the deepest part of the Ocean - Not looking good for recovery of Black Box

[Saracenman]

there has been talk of depressurisation occurring - not sure how that is known, but if true, sounds very ominous

[Mayfly]

It now appears the 'wreckage' they have recovered is not from the Air France aircraft, but the fuel they found possible is. Very strange.

[Bovril]

they implying it may of hit something??

It now appears the 'wreckage' they have recovered is not from the Air France aircraft, but the fuel they found possible is. Very strange.

[Gully]

they implying it may of hit something??

It now appears the 'wreckage' they have recovered is not from the Air France aircraft, but the fuel they found possible is. Very strange.

News story I heard said that the debris they'd found wasn't from the Airbus, but the fuel was. Subtle, but significant, difference.

Gully

[Mayfly]

yes you're right Gully - not sure what word it was now I think about but it wasn't my intention to miss lead anyone

[Saracenman]

perhaps I've missed something here, but if it has been determined that the wreckage is not that of the A330, what IS it from?

has any other a/c been reported missing? if not, isn't THAT rather strange?

sm

[Mayfly]

as Gully pointed out debris & wreckage are 2 different things it could be items washed overboard from some ship. I did put wreckage in inverted commas, again as I said above I didn't mean to imply it was from a different a/c. When I said 'very strange' I was refering to the fuel they found could well be from the aircraft but the debris is not but was in the same area.

[Jigsaw]

Sky news reported earlier that the debris was a wooden pallet (the A330 had none on board) and some buoys that were nothing to do with the aircraft.
They also said that the "slick" was more likely to have come from a ship that had been in the area.

[Saracenman]

Channel 4 News' report this evening said that the search teams only have thirty days in which to find the flight recorder, before it stops transmitting its location signal

something tells me that 'they' might never find the answers

sm

[Jigsaw]

I fear you may be right SM

[Mayfly]

latest

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8087303.stm

[Wedgy]

Its one thing for the families having relatives who perished ... but the not knowing ... that must be hell and back

[Saracenman]

the A330's tail has now been found

there is also a question mark over the reliability of 'speed sensors' - apparently they have been prone to icing and AF have implemented the replacement on their entire fleet. there's no further information as to whether these speed sensors played any part in the aircraft's loss

incredible what they've found so far though, given the vast expanse of ocean

sm

[IanM]

Discussing the possible cause of the crash, French officials have said the plane's sensors could have iced over, meaning pilots may have flown into a storm without knowing their speed.
France's Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told French radio that such a situation could have resulted in "two bad consequences for the survival of the plane".
"Too low a speed, which can cause it to stall, or too high a speed, which can lead to the plane ripping up as it approached the speed of sound, as the outer skin is not designed to resist such speed," he said.
Air France has said it is stepping up the process of replacing speed monitors on board its Airbus planes.
The company said it first noticed problems with speed monitors a year ago and began replacing them a few weeks before the accident.
But investigators have said it is too early to say what role faulty sensors might have played in the crash.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8089917.stm

[Gully]

Latest findings seem to suggest a mid-air break up...

http://news.uk.msn.com/world/article.aspx?cp-documentid=148050334

Gully

[Mackrick]

The investigators will keep on looking until they find a probable cause.

[Wedgy]

Air France pilot body identified

[Saracenman]

very sad - i hope 'they' find the reason for the incident soon

sm