Human error blamed for Air France crash
Investigators have blamed the Air France crash in June 2009 on human error.
They said the junior pilots were not properly trained to deal with an emergency while their Captain was on a rest break.
According to the findings of an initial inquiry, they were unable to bring the Airbus A330 under control in a tropical thunderstorm. When their captain returned they were in too much of a panic to even tell him what the problem was.
The flight, on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, plunged into the Atlantic killing all 228 on board.
Analysis of two black box recorders unveiled a malfunction of airspeed sensors, most likely due to them freezing up.
But according to France’s BEA air accident unit the situation was “salvageable”.
The findings were immediately rejected by Air France.
Air France and aircraft manufacturer Airbus face manslaughter charges.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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