Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Vincent Edlinger
What: Air France Airbus A380-800 en route from New York to Paris
Where: Long Island
When: Nov 27th 2009
Who: not available
Why: After takeoff, the plane indicated an autopilot problem. They returned to the airport where the plane landed, was repaired and took off again, arriving safely in Paris about 6 hours late-
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Contact photographer Giovanni Verbeeck
What: Air France Boeing 777-200 en route from Paris to Sao Paulo
Where: Portugal
When: Nov 25th 2009
Who: 252 passengers including nine players and the coaches of the Brazilian Volleyball National Team travelling home after winning the Men’s World League Championship
Why: Two hours into the flight while west of Lisbon, the plane developed navigational problems. The crew decided to return to Paris which they did; and they made a safe landing.
Things happen. It’s good to see that even with a navigation problem, they were able to make it back to the airport safely.
Pictured: An Air France Boeing 777-328/ER
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Sean Mowatt
What: Air France Boeing 777 en route from Paris to Singapore
Where: Henri Coanda Airport, Bucharest
When: Oct 7th 2009
Who: 307 passengers and 18 crew
Why: When a passenger suffered a heart attack on the plane, and the flight diverted to Bucharest where he was removed from the plane, the rest of the passengers debarked. It was determined he died of the heart attack. There is no mention if the flight had (or used) an on board a defib machine.
The flight could not continue because of a technical problem. The other passengers stayed in the terminal or were put up in hotels and rerouted.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Daniel Alaerts
What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airportto Bangkok Thailand
Where: Amritsar
When: Aug 27th 2009,
Who: not available
Why: While entering Indian airspace, the flight crew sent the wrong transponder code so that the airplane showed up as “unidentified” on both civilian and military radar screens. Communication was lost; and Indian Air Force MiG 29s were sent to intercept the flight; then the interception was aborted when the flight crew corrected the code. The flight continued to land normally at its scheduled destination.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographers Daniel & Robert Fall
What: Air France Airbus A330-200 en route from from Paris to Brazzaville Congo
Where: Maya-Maya airport on the tarmac
When:
Who: Several dozen people were on board the plane,
Why: While taxiing into a parking position, the right winglet (a small vertical section at the tip of the wing) brushed a building just after landing. Although maintenance moved fast to say the plane was fine, the plane will be flown back to France but is banned from taking off with any passengers.
George’s Point of View
I’m not picking on Airbus. Just to prove it, I am going to admit that in this case, the lousy taxi job is probably not due to an innate Airbus flaw (unless massive vehicle size can be construed as a design flaw directly related to the relative ease of negotiating turns on a runway. Maybe the pilot or ground crew was just a ham-handed driver. Come to think of it, parking the 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood was no piece of cake either. )
No, I’m not picking on Airbus. With over 2,500 Airbus A320s flying around, (and who knows how many other Airbus models are still in service) incidents will happen.
But.. look at these statistics:
Airbus A300 – 17 crashes with a total of 1126 fatalities
Airbus A310 – 9 crashes with a total of 825 fatalities
Airbus A319/20/21 – 16 crashes with a total of 637 fatalities
Airbus A330 – 3 with a total of 235 fatalitiesThat’s a lot of fatalities. The number of deaths–almost 400 in June alone–this works out to a lot of misery spread around to a lot of families.
I’m not picking on Air France, either. Air France isn’t responsible for the Yemenia Flight 626 that crashed June 30th 2009 with 152 fatalities and one miracle survivor.
But even if I am not picking on Airbus, someone with lots of muscle (like all the citizens of France) should be doing just that.
Enough deaths. It is past time to fix the problem.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Moritz Meier
What: Air France Airbus A340-300 en route from Boston,MA to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Where: Boston’s Logan Airport
When: Jul 22nd 2009 (returned at 2 am)
Who: 125 people
Why: During or immediately after takeoff, the number 4 engine caught afire. The crew shut down the engine, put out the fire, and dumped fuel before safely landing at the airport, where emergency crews remained on standby for “hot brakes.”
George’s Point of View
Emergency procedures move like clockwork. 125 lives saved.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Jacques Lienard
What: Air France Airbus A320-200 en route from Rome Fiumicino (Italy) to Paris
Where: en route
When: Jul 13th 2009
Who: n/a
Why: While en route, the Airbus A320 flew for a minute without speed indications;in fact, all data related indications, autopilot and autothrust systems went offline simultaneously. The Airbus had updated Thales pitot tubes, and was experiencing a “weather” situation. Thales tubes were the brand of pitot tube on Air France Flight 447, albeit an updated model.
George’s Point of View
More questions: is it the tubes alone which are faulty, or is it also the software? Why is there not a setting to automatically shift to Analog systems if digital fails?
Pictured: Airbus similar to the one in the incident
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact Photographer Ruud Brinks
What: Air France Airbus A320-200 en route from Paris Orly to Toulouse
Where: Paris
When: Jul 3rd 2009
Who: not available
Why: Prior to takeoff, during engine acceleration, the left engine failed. The flight was cancelled, and a replacement aircraft was required.
No more details were available.
George’s Point of View
At least THIS one wasn’t the Pitot tubes.
The latest find is the vertical stabilizer from the Airbus tail section. The original paint is still visible, and it apparently is not burned. The damage is described as “a lateral fracture” the examination of which will provide clues to the force that caused the break.
The latest in a series of theories conjectures that the break could be the result of structural stress due to the plane’s traveling too fast due to frozen pitot tubes that didn’t correctly gauge the planes rate of speed.
A total of 24 bodies have been found of the original 228.
The black box is missing. The general area of the crash is up to a mile and a half deep, and the listening devices provided by the US will probably not be in use until Thursday.
As the search for passengers from flight AF447 continues, Air France has announced it’s accelerating the replacement of Airbus speed monitors.
Timeline of the disappearance of Air France flight 447:
All times are universal time, or Greenwich Mean Time. At this time of year, Seattle is seven hours behind GMT.
May 31:
22:03 — Air France flight 447 departs from Rio de Janeiro. (Brazilian Air Force says plane left at 22:30.)
June 1:
01:30 — Plane has last contact with Brazil air traffic control, where it is 351 miles from the city of Natal.
01:48 — Brazilian Air Force has last radar contact. Plane appears to be flying normally.
02:00 — Aircraft hits a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence
02:14 — An automatic message was received from the aircraft at indicating a failure in the electric circuit a long way from the coast.
02:20 — Plane fails to make previously scheduled radio contact with Brazil. Brazil notifies air traffic control in Dakar, Senegal.
05:00 – 06:00 — Brazilian, African, Spanish and French air traffic control centers try to make contact with the flight, but are not successful. The French military air traffic control center cannot detect the aircraft.
05:30 — Brazilian Air Force starts a search and rescue mission
07:30 — Air France sets up a crisis center
09:15 — Flight was expected to arrive in Paris
11:31 — Air France announces the following: “Air France regrets to announce that it has lost contact with flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, expected to arrive this morning at 11:15 local time.”
13:10 — Air France announces the following: “Air France regrets to confirm the disappearance of flight AF 447 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, scheduled to arrive at 11:10am local time today, as announced to the press by Air France CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.”
13:59 — Air France reports that it has sent all of the information it has regarding the flight to the French Accident Investigation Bureau for civil aviation (BEA) and to Airbus
14:44 — By this time, the airplane is expected to have run out of fuel. Air France publicizes “its deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of the passengers and crew who were on board AF flight 447 on 31 May 2009, which disappeared somewhere between Rio de Janeiro and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.”
Airbus also announces, “Airbus regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Air France has been lost about 3.5 hours after departure.”
18:13 — Air France releases a list of the nationalities on board
(Sources:
“Flight Safety Information” is a service of:
Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP
CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC
(Targeting Safety & Risk Management)
curt@curt-lewis.com
www.curt-lewis.com
www.fsinfo.org)
Paris, 01 June 2009 – 16:44 local time
Press release N° 4
Air France expresses its deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of the passengers and crew who were on board AF flight 447 on 31 May 2009, which disappeared somewhere between Rio de Janeiro and Paris-Charles de Gaulle.
Air France is doing its utmost to provide support to relatives and friends: counselling with physicians and psychologists as well as specially trained Air France volunteers has been set up at the airports of Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2 and Rio de Janeiro.
Air France has also established a special toll-free number for the attention of relatives and friends of passengers who may have been on board. They can use this number to obtain information on whether or not a member of their family or friends was on board.
Phone number reserved for relatives and friends
0800 800 812 in France,
0800 881 20 20 in Brazil,
and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from all other countries.
Air France will release further information as soon as it is available.
NB: We ask journalists not to call this number, which is reserved for relatives and close friends.
Português
Air France dirige suas sinceras condolências às famílias e amigos dos passageiros e membros da tripulação que se encontravam a bordo do voo AF 447 do dia 31 de maio, desaparecido entre o Rio de Janeiro e Paris Charles de Gaulle.
A Air France está concentrando todos os seus esforços em dar suporte às famílias e parentes: uma assistência psicológica foi instalada no aeroporto de Paris Charles de Gaulle 2 e no aeroporto do Rio de Janeiro. Ela é composta de médicos e psicólogos, assim como voluntários da empresa, especialmente treinados para estas situações.
A empresa também colocou à disposição um número de telefone toll free especial de atendimento às famílias dos passageiros. Ela informa, conforme solicitação, de uma eventual presença a bordo de um familiar.
Números de telefone reservados às famílias
0800 881 20 20 para o Brasil,
0800 800 812 para a França,
e 33 1 57 02 10 55 para outros países
Air France comunicará outras informações assim que elas estiverem disponíveis.
NB : Solicitamos aos jornalistas que NÃO liguem para este número, reservado às famílias.
Paris, 01 June 2009 – 15:59 local time
Press release N° 3
Air France has sent all the information in its possession on the disappearance of flight AF 447 operating the Rio de Janeiro – Paris-Charles de Gaulle route to the French Accident Investigation Bureau for civil aviation (BEA), the French organization in charge of technical investigations into civil aviation incidents and accidents, and to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Air France is in permanent contact with the BEA and Airbus.
The Airbus A330-200 aircraft, registration F-GZCP, left Rio on 31 May at 7:03pm local time (12:03am in Paris). The aircraft hit a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence at 2am this morning (universal time), i.e. 4am in Paris. An automatic message was received from the aircraft at 2:14am (4:14am in Paris) indicating a failure in the electric circuit in an area a long way off the coast.
The aircraft was powered with General Electric CF6-80E engines.
The aircraft had totalled 18,870 flight hours and went into service on 18 April 2005.
Its last maintenance check in the hangar took place on 16 April 2009.
Air France shares the anxiety and distress of the families concerned. The families are being taken care of in a specially reserved area of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2.
A toll-free number has been opened at 0800 800 812 in France,
at 0800 881 20 20 in Brazil
and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from outside France.
NB: We ask journalists not to call this number, which is reserved for families and close relatives.
Português
Air France informou ao Bureau de Investigação e Análises para a Segurança de Aviação civil, organismo responsavél na França pelas investigações técnicas sobre acidentes e incidentes da aviação civil, e para a Airbus, fabricante do avião, as informações que tem em seu poder após o desaparecimento do voo AF 447, fazendo a ligação Rio de Janeiro – Paris-Charles de Gaulle : a companhia está em contato permanente com o Bureau e com a Airbus.
A aeronave, do tipo Airbus A330-200, matrícula F-GZCP, deixou o Rio dia 31 de maio às 19h03 (hora local).
A aeronave atravessou uma zona de tempestade com fortes turbulências às 2 horas da manhã (horário TU) – 23 horas horário do Brasil. Uma mensagem automática foi recebida às 2h14 da manhã (horário TU = 23h14 horário do Brasil) indicando uma pane do circuito elétrico numa zona afastada da costa.
A aeronave é equipada de motores General Electric CF6-80E.
O avião tem um total de 18 870 horas de voo e começou a operar em 18 de abril de 2005.
A última visita de manutenção em hangar foi feita em 16 de abril de 2009.
A Air France divide a emoção e a inquietação das famílias envolvidas. Os familiares serão recebidos num local especialmente reservado no aeroporto de Paris Charles de Gaulle 2 assim como no Salão Nobre do Galeão.
Um toll free está disponível :
0800 881 2020 para o Brasil
0800 800 812 para a França,
e + 33 1 57 02 10 55 para outros países
NB : Solicitamos aos jornalistas que NÃO liguem para este número, reservado às famílias.
Paris, 01 June 2009 – 15:10 local time
Press release N° 2
Air France regrets to confirm the disappearance of flight AF 447 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, scheduled to arrive at 11:10am local time today, as announced to the press by Air France CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.
The Airbus A330-200, registration F-GZCP, left Rio on 31 May at 7:03pm local time (12:03am in Paris).
The aircraft hit a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence at 2am this morning (universal time), i.e. 4am in Paris. An automatic message was received from the aircraft at 2:14am (4 :14am in Paris) indicating a failure in the electric circuit a long way from the coast.
The Brazilian, African, Spanish and French air traffic control centres all tried to make contact with flight AF 447 but to no avail. The French military air traffic control centre tried to detect the aircraft but did not succeed.
216 passengers were on board: 126 men, 82 women, 7 children and one infant.
There were 12 flight crew members: 3 pilots and 9 flight attendants.
The flight captain had a record of 11,000 flight hours and had already flown 1,700 hours on Airbus A330/A340s.
Of the two first officers, one had flown 3,000 flight hours (800 of which on the Airbus A330/A340) and the other 6,600 (2,600 on the Airbus A330/A340).
The aircraft was powered by General Electric CF6-80E engines.
The aircraft had totalled 18,870 flight hours and went into service on 18 April 2005.
Its last maintenance check in the hangar took place on 16 April 2009.
Air France fully shares the anxiety and distress of the families concerned. The families are being taken care of in a specially reserved area of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2.
A toll-free number has been opened at 0800 800 812 for calls from France,
and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from outside France.
NB: We ask journalists not to call this number, which is reserved for families and close relatives.
Português
A Air France lamenta informar o desaparecimento do voo AF 447 que efetuava a ligação entre Rio de Janeiro e Paris-Charles de Gaulle, chegada prevista às 11h10 (hora local), acaba de anunciar o Diretor Geral da Air France, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.
A aeronave, do tipo Airbus A330-200, matrícula F-GZCP, deixou o Rio dia 31 de maio às 19h03 (hora local).
A aeronave atravessou uma zona de tempestade com fortes turbulências às 2 horas da manhã (horário TU) – 23 horas horário do Brasil. Uma mensagem automática foi recebida às 2h14 da manhã (horário TU = 23h14 horário do Brasil) indicando uma pane do circuito elétrico numa zona afastada da costa.
O conjunto dos controles aéreos civis brasileiro, africano, espanhol e francês tentaram em vão estabelecer contato com o voo AF 447. O controle aéreo militar francês tentou detectar o avião, sem sucesso.
216 passageiros estão a bordo : 126 homens, 82 mulheres, 7 crianças e um bebê.
A tripulação é composta por 12 pessoas : 3 tripulantes técnicos e 9 comissários.
O comandante tem 11 mil horas de voo e já tinha efetuado 1700 horas no Airbus A330/A340.
Os dois co-pilotos possuem: um 3000 horas de voo, sendo 800 horas em Airbus A330/A340 e o outro 6600, sendo 2 600 em Airbus A330/A340.
A aeronave é equipada de motores General Electric CF6-80E.
O avião tem um total de 18 870 heures de voo e começou a operar em 18 de abril de 2005.
A última visita de manutenção em hangar foi feita em 16 de abril de 2009.
A Air France divide a emoção e a inquietação das famílias envolvidas. Os familiares serão recebidos num local especialmente reservado no aeroporto de Paris Charles de Gaulle 2 assim como no do Galeão.
Um toll free está disponível :
0800 881 2020 para o Brasil
0800 800 812 para a França,
e + 33 1 57 02 10 55 para outros países
NB : Solicitamos aos jornalistas que NÃO liguem para este número, reservado às famílias
Paris, 01 June 2009 – 13:31 local time
First press release
Air France regrets to announce that it has lost contact with flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, expected to arrive this morning at 11:15 local time.
The flight left Rio on 31 May at 7pm local time.
216 passengers are on board.
There are 12 crew members on board: 3 pilots and 9 cabin crew.
The following toll-free number is available in France: 0800 800 812,
and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 outside France.
Air France fully shares the anxiety and distress of the families of the passengers concerned. The families are been taken care of in a specially reserved area at Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2 airport.
Português
Air France lamenta informar que se encontra sem notícias do voo AF 447 que efetuava a ligação entre Rio de Janeiro e Paris Charles de Gaulle, com chegada prevista às 11h15 da manhã (hora local).
O voo decolou do Rio no dia 31 de maio às 19 horas locais.
216 passageiros estão a bordo.
A tripulação é composta de 12 pessoas : 3 tripulantes técnicos e 9 comissários.
Um toll free está disponível :
0800 800 812 para a França,
e + 33 1 57 02 10 55 para outros países
A Air France divide a emoção e a inquietação das famílias envolvidas. Os familiares serão recebidos num local especialmente reservado no aeroporto de Paris Charles de Gaulle 2 assim como no do Galeão.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Gabriel Widyna
Family members can call — 0 800 800 812 for people in France and 00 33 1 57 02 10 55 for families outside France.
What: 4 year old Air France Airbus A330-200 en route from Rio de Janeiro,RJ (Brazil) to Paris Charles de Gaulle
Where: Missing over the Atlantic Ocean
When: June 1
Who: In all, there were 216 passengers (incl seven children and one baby, 82 women and 126 men) and 12 crew. 60 French citizens were on the plane. Italy said at least three passengers were Italian.The pilot had 11,000 hours of flying experience, and 1,700 hours flying this aircraft.
Why: The last known radio contact was an automatic message made at 0133 GMT when the plane was near the Island of Fernando de Noronha; since then, the airplane has made no radio communication. Fifteen minutes after flying through a storm and strong turbulence, there was an electrical short-circuit. There is speculation that the plane may have been hit by lightning.
Search planes left Fernando de Noronha Island looking for signs of the plane concentrating in an area 230 miles off the northeast Brazil coast. Though there is not radar over the entire ocean, the black box will be emit a signal even if it is under water.
The flight left Rio at 7 p.m. and was expected in Paris on Monday at 11:15 a.m. By now, fuel would have run out.
Families of the missing are being brought to an information centre at Charles de Gaulle airport.
What: British Air on behalf of Air France Canadair CRJ-100 en route from from Barcelona to Paris
Where: 15 passengers
When: May 26th 2009
Who: 15 passengers
Why: Near Limoges, the right cockpit window shattered, causing the plane to experience sudden decompression. the plane landed safely at Limoges. Cockpit crew had some injuries from flying glass.
What: Air France Airlinair Aerospatiale ATR-42-500 en route from Florence (Italy) to Lyon (France)
Where: diverted to Genoa (Italy)
When: Apr 25th 2009
Who: 32 passengers
Why: While en route, the crew observed a cracked windshield. The airplane landed safely about 50 minutes after departure from Florence.
What: Air France Airbus A319-100 en route from Paris Orly to Toulouse
Where: Toulouse
When: Mar 30th 2009
Who: 115 passengers and 6 crew
Why: In flight, the left engine surged. The crew did not shut it down, but did reduce power; and the plane landed without injury with emergency crews on standby.
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Walter Pietsch
George’s Point of View
There is wisdom in keeping your seats belts fastened even when the seat belt sign is off —
What: Air France passenger plane Boeing 777-200 flight 276 en route from Paris to Narita airport
Where: Narita airport
Who: 261 passengers and 16 crewmembers. Passsengers had no injuries, but 2 crew members suffered hip and thoracic fractures.
Why: The plane was hit by turbulence while circling above waters off Chiba Prefecture while waiting to land at Narita airport. The plane landed safely and was sent back to France after examination.
