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| AIR FRANCE AIRBUS A318-111 F-GUGQ (MSN 2972) |
Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport (GIG/SBGL) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG). On the 1st of June 2009, inconsistent airspeed readings led the pilots to inadvertently stall the Airbus A330 serving the flight. Unable to recover from the stall, the aircraft plunged into the mid-Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, claiming the lives of all 216 passengers and 12 crew members.
Within five days of the tragedy, the Brazilian Navy retrieved the first significant wreckage and two bodies from the ocean. However, the investigation by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) faced early challenges due to the delayed recovery of the aircraft's flight recorders from the seabed in May 2011, almost two years post-accident.
On the 5th of July 2012, the BEA published its final report on the crash, corroborating earlier findings and adding further details and safety recommendations. The report concluded that the accident was a sequence of critical events: a temporary discrepancy in speed measurements, likely caused by ice crystals blocking the pitot tubes, which led to autopilot disconnection and a shift to "alternate law (ALT)" flight control mode. The crew's unsuitable control inputs destabilized the flight path. They did not adhere to the correct procedures for handling the loss of airspeed display, were slow to recognise and rectify the flight path deviation, lacked understanding of stall approach, and failed to realize the aircraft was in a stall, missing the opportunity to execute recovery maneuvers.
Aircraft Information:
Airline: Air France
Code: AF/AFR
Aircraft: Airbus A330-203
Registration: F-GZCP
Serial Number: 660
Engines: 2 x General Electric CF6-80E1A3
First Flew: 25th February 2005
Age: 4.4 Years
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