Lost Air France Airbus: bodies, debris found in Atlantic
Pastor Dale Morgan
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*Lost Air France Airbus: bodies, debris found in Atlantic*
Aircraft had sent 24 crisis messages just before it disappeared
* Buzz up!
* Digg it
* Peter Beaumont
* guardian.co.uk, Saturday 6 June 2009 13.04 BST
Bodies from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic last week
carrying 228 passengers and crew were discovered today. Debris was also
found, the Brazilian air force confirmed.
The news of the discovery came as it emerged that the aircraft
transmitted 24 error messages, including that the autopilot had been
disengaged minutes before it disappeared.
In the Airbus A330's last minutes, automated radio transmissions logged
a catalogue of failures, beginning with the disengagement of the
autopilot and ending with a drastic drop in the pressure difference
between the inside and outside of the plane, consistent with either the
breakup of the aircraft or a rapid descent.
The focus of the inquiry is upon the reliability of an air-speed sensor
called the Pitot tubes. Air France had ordered that they be upgraded
more than a year ago, but the work had apparently not been carried out
on the stricken plane.
The three tubes supply information crucial for flying on autopilot. If
the tubes become blocked by ice they can record pressure incorrectly and
consequently suggest the aircraft is travelling at the wrong speed.
Although the ones fitted on the plane contained an electrical element to
help prevent icing, a more sophisticated system was being installed.
The emerging theory is that the jet – en route from Rio de Janeiro to
Paris – hit a tropical storm that normally would not have presented any
navigational difficulties. But heavy icing around the sensors confused
the aircraft's systems and pilots about the plane's speed.
Incorrectly functioning Pitot tubes contributed to the 1996 crash of a
Boeing 757 into the Atlantic.
Meteorologists have said the Air France jet entered an unusual storm
with 100mph updrafts that acted as a vacuum, sucking water up from the
ocean. The moist air rushed up to the plane's high altitude, where it
froze .
The focus on the Pitot tubes emerged after a leaked Air France memo
stated that it had been replacing the instruments on its fleet – work
that would be completed in "coming weeks".