How Pilots Wrestled In Vain to Save Air France Jet

Reuters ^ | Tim Hepher

[lbryce]

"What do you think? What do you think? What should we do?"

The 37-year-old Air France co-pilot with over 6,000 flying hours was running out of ideas as a stall alarm bellowed through the Airbus cockpit for the sixth time in exactly two minutes.

His junior colleague with two years on the job was already in despair as he battled to control the jet's speed and prevent it rocking left to right in pitch darkness over the Atlantic, on only his second Rio de Janeiro-Paris trip as an A330 pilot.

"I don't have control of the plane. I don't have control of the plane at all," the younger pilot, 32, said.

The captain was not present and it was proving hard to get him back to the cockpit, where his more than 11,000 hours of flying experience were badly needed.

"So is he coming?" the senior co-pilot muttered, according to a transcript released on Friday. Light expletives were edited out of the text here and elsewhere, according to people familiar with the probe into the mid-Atlantic crash on June 1, 2009.

The 58-year-old captain and former demonstration pilot had left 10 minutes earlier for a routine rest. In his absence the plane had begun falling at more than 200 km (125 miles) an hour.

"Hey what are you --," he said on entering the cockpit.

"What's happening? I don't know, I don't know what's happening," replied the senior co-pilot, sitting on the left.

With the benefit of black boxes hauled up 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) from the ocean floor just two months ago, investigators now say the aircraft had stopped flying properly and entered a hazardous stall, as its 3,900 square feet (362 sq metres) of wings gasped for air.

[A_perfect_lady]

I don't think it's irrational at all. When you fly, you are way up in the air! In a metal tube. And if something goes horribly wrong, there ain't no where to go but DOWN.

[expatpat]

You’re right — I put the wrong name to the AI, which is what I meant.

[PiperShade]

I spoke briefly with a cousin (who flys long-range biz-jets) about the accident before the FDRs were recovered. He mentioned he flys through the accident region regularly and weather is always present in the inter-tropical convergence zone.

FWIW, (that cousin has many thousands of hours in heavy transport aircraft), noted a lack of hand-flying skills and discouragement of practice developing such was common in all organizations he was familiar with. I suppose its due to its impact upon efficiency, hence range and “flight safety”. >PS