Posted on 06/01/2009 3:50:07 AM PDT by rdl6989
(CNN) -- A French passenger aircraft carrying 228 people has disappeared off the coast of Brazil, airline officials say. A file photo shows an Air France jet on take off. Some 228 passengers are aboard the missing aircraft.
A file photo shows an Air France jet on take off. Some 228 passengers are aboard the missing aircraft.
Air France told CNN the jet was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when contact was lost.
The airline said flight AF447 was carrying 216 passengers in addition to a crew of 12. The plane is listed as an Airbus A330.
State radio reported a crisis center was being set up at Charles de Gaulle where the plane had been due to land at 11.15 a.m. local time.
Reports said an air force search and rescue operation was underway around the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, 365 kilometers (226 miles) off the mainland.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
The very same airliner had electrical problems in March and was in Bangalore, India for 4 days (March 18-22).
Seems like 'professional' repair and the class action suit is likely around the corner. Air France shares are in fall already.
Can someone with real knowledge comment on this - how fly by wire is supplied by power?
Boeing or AB?
I recall a flight from Cleveland to Cincinnati in the late 90’s. Short and sweet on a CRJ, beautiful blue skies, perfect for flying. We reached cruising altitude and the flight attendant start serving drinks. Everyone was relaxed and looking out the window enjoying the boring flight when we suddenly ran into the most violent turbulence I have ever experienced. The plane oscillated up and down hundreds of feet at a time in a just few seconds and everyone screamed. The pilot slowed the plane to a near standstill in the air and apologized for the clear air turbulence. He changed altitudes to get us into smoother air. As soon as he pushed the throttles forward the plane once again began violently lurching up and down. The pilot apologized a second time and said we would have to crawl to Cincinnati due to the rough air. The short flight took twice as long and halfway through the turbulence reared its ugly head again even with the slower speed but this time it was due to a thunderstorm over mid-Ohio. I would rather see an engine fall off the plane than have to endure severe turbulence again...
Made me think Bermuda triangle
Y’know, mention of a short circuit brings up a potential scenario similar to Swissair 111, the MD-11 that crashed off Nova Scotia a while back. They had a short in the electrical system after some new in-flight entertainment systems were added, it wound up starting a fire in the insulation behind the cockpit. But they had plenty of time to declare an emergency and start heading toward Halifax and dumping fuel...the fire just grew too quickly and wound up progressively knocking out the MD-11’s systems and eventually incapacitating the flight crew. It wasn’t nearly as sudden as this.
This is a very odd situation. We don’t know if the plane was in a radar “hole” too far out in the Atlantic to be detected if it lost its electrical systems (and thus its transponder), but we do know that it had some sort of electrical problem and was also getting slammed around by turbulence. I don’t foresee a happy ending coming out of this one.
BTW, I believe this would be the first accident involving fatalities on an A330. Two empty ones were blown up by terrorists in Sri Lanka, and a Malaysian A330 had severe damage after corrosive chemicals in the cargo leaked while it was on the ground. And of course there was Air Transat 238 and their spectacular 125-mile glide into the Azores. But in general, the A330 and A340 have racked up impressive safety records.
}:-)4
In past flights that have crashed into water they seemed to be able to locate the airplane.What am I missing? The news, right now is making it sound like the plane vanished into thin air.
The Swissair 111 pilots were unusually cool for what was occuring on their plane. Probably too cool not sensing the real danger. They would have had a better chance bringing her in heavy.
There’s an electrical generator on each engine. The planes use both DC and AC power; I think the DC is something like 24 or 28 volts, and I don’t know what voltage the AC power runs but on older aircraft the AC frequency was 400 Hz (that sticks in my head from where I read it a while back, always thought it odd). There’s also an electrical generator on the auxiliary power unit, and they can deploy a ram air turbine, which is a little propeller-driven generator that hangs under the fuselage and provides extremely limited electrical and hydraulic functionality. That’s what USAir 1549 used to be able to maneuver to its ditching in the Hudson after both engines went out.
}:-)4
Because it did... No radar contact and a large search area. Imagine trying to find an ant in a large swimming pool...
Very difficult...
I heard a report that the plane may have been closer to being off the coast of Africa rather than Brazil
Wonder why the link below says June 2. It’s still June 1 - both in Brazil and France.
L O S T
Pilots do routinely report turbulence, in fact plane to plane chatter consists mostly of talk about how good or poor the ride is in a particular area. However, that stretch of the Atlantic is sparsely travelled so there may not have been other planes in the area.
http://www.britflight.com/wingfiles/safety/lightningstrikes.pdf
And here for a description of the FBW mechanics and testing:
http://www.aviationtoday.com/am/categories/bga/Fly-by-Wire-Control-Testing_210.html
Overall, the plane has a good safety record.
Radar can see further than line of sight but it’s certainly not a factor in this instance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Over-the-horizon_radar
The plane communicates with company dispatchers via satcom. Dispatchers can see what’s happening to the plane on a real time basis and the reports are automated. There is a famous case of an airline crew accidentally shutting down an engine and getting an almost immediate call from ground wanting to know what was going on.
bttt
I flew Air France from Paris to the USA, a few months back. My thoughts are with you and your son’s safe return.
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