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-- Airbus: A history of disaster

Posted by HardTranceProd on Jul-02-2009 14:08:

Airbus: A history of disaster

The Flight 447 disaster which happened on June 1 over the Atlantic Ocean is but one of many episodes involving Airbus planes which give computers far too much control, and not enough control to the pilot, as opposed to Boeing models which are based on a far different philosophy: "pilot knows best." In Boeing planes, computers are given a much more limited role, and can always be overridden. But Airbus planes are "fly-by-wire."

Many pilots around the world have already expressed displeasure about flying Airbus models, because there's not much they can do to steer the plane. Airbus is a French-based company which is now facing calls to ground its entire fleet, after accounts of episodes similar to the June 1 tragedy have emerged in recent days.

By the way, that Yemeni flight to Comoro islands which killed hundreds of people was also an Airbus, although the circumstances there were slightly different.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ne...icle6612165.ece

quote:

Airbus is expected to face calls to ground its worldwide fleet of long-range airliners tomorrow when French accident investigators issue their first account of what caused Air France Flight 447 to crash off Brazil on June 1.

It is believed that the accident bureau will report that stormy weather was a factor but faulty speed data and electronics were the main problem in the disaster that killed 228 people.

The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is likely to be asked why it had never taken action to remedy trouble that was well known with the Airbus 330 and 340 series. Nearly 1,000 of the aircraft are flying and until AF447, no passenger had been killed in one.

�EASA has a legal and moral obligation to get to the bottom of this problem now. If there is a defective system and the aircraft is unsafe then it should be grounded,� said James Healy-Pratt of Stewarts Law in London. The firm, which specialises in aviation, is representing the families of 20 of the victims of flight 447.

Only 11 bodies of the 50 recovered from the Atlantic have been identified. They include Captain Marc Dubois, 58, who is believed to have been resting when his two co-pilots lost control of the aircraft in a storm. The search for bodies has been called off but ships continue to hunt for the black boxes although their locator beacons are assumed to have expired.

Suspicion over the air data systems on the Airbus 330 and 340 series has increased after the disclosure that the aircraft had experienced 36 episodes similar to the one that brought Flight 447 down as it flew from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Airbus first reported problems with the speed sensors � known as pitot tubes � in 1994, it emerged this week. The company advised remedies, but no mandatory action was taken.

Last weekend, the US National Transportation Safety Board, began looking into two incidents in which Airbus A330s flying from the US suffered critical episodes apparently similar to that of AF447.

This raises the prospect of a possible US order on modifications to the Airbus.

The first US incident occurred on May 21 when a TAM Airlines flight from Miami to Sao Paulo, Brazil, lost primary speed and altitude information while in cruise flight. The other was on a Northwest Airlines flight, on June 23, from Hong Kong to Tokyo.

Accounts on the internet from the pilots report a desperate struggle to keep the jet in the air.

The fate of Flight 447 would probably have remained an eternal mystery had the aircraft not automatically transmitted data back to the Air France maintenance base.

In the final four minutes, they told a story that was familiar to the airline. Ice particles or water had blocked the three pitot tubes. This upset the air data computers which in turn caused the automatic pilot to disconnect. The pilots would have had to fly manually in near-impossible conditions.

By the way: Flight 447 did not disintegrate in mid-air, as previously reported, but rather fell vertically from the sky.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090702...investigation_4

quote:

LE BOURGET, France � A French investigator says Air France Flight 447 did not break up in flight but plunged vertically into the Atlantic Ocean.

Alain Bouillard, leading the investigation into the June 1 crash for the French accident investigation agency BEA, also says life vests found among the wreckage of the plane were not inflated.

All 228 people aboard the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Bouillard said at a news conference outside Paris on Thursday that the search for the plane's black boxes has been extended by 10 days and will continue through July 10.

Posted by jerZ07002 on Jul-02-2009 18:39:

clearly boeing has a much longer history of building planes and has significant input from military scientists, but i would hardly say that airbus has a record of building shitty planes.

Posted by Magnetonium on Jul-02-2009 20:30:

I partially agree, the circumstances behind the crash of the France-bound jet that crashed in the Pacific strongly indicate problems with the plane - not maintenance, but rather design. They should have replaced the pitot tubes right away for all planes when they found out about its malfunction problems years earlier. But they didn't. Thats neglect and ignorance.

Yemenia flight crashed because Yemen is clearly lacking safety and proper maintenance, as the plane was banned from France, and the airport was a bitch to land in because of poor design and prevailing weather and wind. It was clearly noted that the airport is mostly suited for daylight-time landings, and pilots otherwise require special training due to the geography of the area.