Air France Flight 447

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Airline, Jet Maker Cleared of Criminal Charges in Big Trial

Air France, Airbus were accused of manslaughter in 2009 crash of passenger jet

(Newser) - A French court on Monday acquitted Airbus and Air France of manslaughter charges over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 from Rio to Paris, which killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures. Sobs broke out in the courtroom as the presiding judge read out the...

As Trial Begins on Fatal Flight 447, a Big First in France

Air France and Airbus are first French companies to face trial there after a plane crash

(Newser) - Thirteen years after Air France Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean during its journey from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, a nine-week manslaughter trial is finally beginning. Reuters reports that the trial starting Monday in the French capital is the first time that companies in that nation have faced...

Court: Air France to Stand Trial Over Its Deadliest-Ever Crash

But it has vowed to appeal to France's highest court

(Newser) - A French court on Wednesday ordered Air France and plane maker Airbus to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in the 2009 crash into the Atlantic Ocean of a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which killed all 228 people aboard—the deadliest crash Air France has ever suffered, per...

What the Jet Search Has Cost the World

At $44M so far, it's on its way to most expensive in history

(Newser) - As searchers listen for pings in the Indian Ocean that might help them find the missing Flight 370, Reuters assesses the cost of the hunt after a month and finds that it's on track to become the most expensive search in aviation history. Reuters figures that the militaries of...

Human Error Took Down Air France Flight
  Human Error 
 Took Down 
 Air France Flight 
final report
Jul 5, 2012 9:15 AM CDT

Human Error Took Down Air France Flight

Pilots never realized plane was in stall, says final report

(Newser) - Today hasn't been the most praiseworthy day for mankind. On the heels of a report that Fukushima was a man-made disaster comes the final report on Air France's 2009 crash, and it cites human error as well. Investigators list a combination of "human and technical factors" as...

Lack of Training Blamed for Deadly Air France Crash
'Autopilot Addiction'
Doomed Air France Flight
in case you missed it
Jun 10, 2012 10:54 AM CDT

'Autopilot Addiction' Doomed Air France Flight

Startling lack of training endangers passengers, experts say

(Newser) - Airbus likes to boast that its A330 jet is "pilot-proof," but that sentiment may have helped trigger one of the worst airline disasters in recent years, experts tell ABC . They say that the co-pilots on Air France Flight 447 depended too heavily on the plane's autopilot system,...

Air France Pilots Didn't Know What Was Happening

Neither co-pilot had been trained for sensor malfunctions, new report says

(Newser) - The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not appear to know that the plane was in a stall, despite repeated warning signals, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before the jet plunged into the sea, according to new findings released today. Based...

Air France Searchers Recover 75 Bodies

Crash victims pulled from wreckage could be preserved by icy depths

(Newser) - A French search team has pulled another 75 victims of the Air France Flight 447 crash out of the briny depths in recent days, a spokesman for the French military police said today. He would not say what condition the bodies were in, but Reuters notes that the first two...

Air France Plane Stalled, Entered 3.5-Minute Plunge

Autopilot shut off hours into flight; captain was resting

(Newser) - Air France Flight 447 slowed, stalled, then began a 3.5-minute plunge into the Atlantic, the investigation into the 2009 crash has found. The autopilot system on the Airbus 330 cut off just after pilots told the cabin crew of coming turbulence; the younger of the two co-pilots then aimed...

Air France Black Box: Pilot Wasn't in the Cockpit

Marc Dubois rushed back in while the plane was in trouble

(Newser) - Investigators have made a shocking discovery while analyzing the data from Air France Flight 447’s flight recorder: Pilot Marc Dubois was not in the cockpit when the incident that caused the flight to crash began. In the recordings, Dubois, 58, can be heard rushing into the cockpit after the...

Recordings Recovered From Crashed Air France Jet

Investigation among most complex and expensive in history

(Newser) - French investigators have recovered all the flight data and cockpit voice recordings from the recorders of an Air France jet found in the Atlantic nearly two years after it crashed, they said today. The recorders were located by underwater robots and hoisted from depths of some 13,000 feet earlier...

Body Recovered From 2009 Air France Crash

But it may not be possible to recover all the bodies found

(Newser) - Following the recovery of the black box and cockpit recorder from the 2009 Air France crash, officials have pulled a passenger's body from the ocean. The French Gendarmerie says the remains, which were still attached to a plane seat, were pulled up this morning. The first search effort after...

Air France Recorder Pulled From Atlantic

Investigators hope for clues in 2009 plane crash

(Newser) - On the heels of recovering the black box from the doomed Air France flight that fell out of the sky off the Brazilian coast nearly two years ago, French investigators have pulled the cockpit recorder from the depths of the Atlantic, reports the AP. It's not yet certain whether...

Air France Black Box Found
 Air France Black Box Found 
May 2, 2011 3:25 AM CDT

Air France Black Box Found

Submarine finds data unit 12,800 feet below surface

(Newser) - The missing memory unit of the flight data recorder of the Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009 has been recovered, found yesterday by a submarine some 12,800 feet below the surface, reports AP . The discovery of the "black box"—a red cylinder partially...

Bodies Found in Underwater Air France Wreckage

Robots find cabin and engines of crashed jet

(Newser) - Underwater robots have located the bodies of some of those who died in the Air France flight 447 crash two years ago, France’s Ecology Minister revealed on the radio today. “We have bodies… there are bodies that are still in the parts that have been found,” the...

Wreckage Found From 2009 Air France Crash

It could shed light on what brought down jet, killing 228

(Newser) - Investigators might finally get a better idea of why an Air France flight crashed into the Atlantic nearly two years ago and killed all 228 aboard. A fourth deep-sea search led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has yielded plane parts believed to be from the Airbus 330, reports the...

France to Hunt Again for Vanished Rio-Paris Flight

Fourth search for Flight 447's black boxes to begin in February

(Newser) - The French government will conduct a fourth search for the flight recorders of the Air France jetliner that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris 18 months ago, it announced today. The initial search for Flight 447 found 50 bodies and hundreds of pieces...

Air France Flight Hit Water Intact

(Newser) - 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...

Computer Crash May Have Doomed Air France Flight

Crash raises questions on if today's pilots can cope with computer failure

(Newser) - Investigators trying to piece together the fate of Air France Flight 447 in the absence of its black boxes are focusing on possible computer failures, the Wall Street Journal reports. The evidence suggests a problem with the sensors quickly snowballed into widespread computer outages, leaving the crew struggling to manage...

Brazil Ends Hunt for Flight 447 Victims

(Newser) - Brazil's Navy and Air Force gave up their search for Air France Flight 447 victims today, citing the difficulty of finding bodies and wreckage 25 days after the crash, Reuters reports. "It's already been nine days without seeing any bodies," a Brazilian officer said. French ships will remain,...

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