I’ve been dreading this summer … for the first time in my life though actually. That’s because next month the final French BEA report on the Air France 447 crash will be released.
Most professional pilots have a pretty good idea what it’s going to say though … pilot error. No big surprise there.
From the headlines lately, the need for one media outlet to trump the BEA to their final report is powerful. London’s Daily Telegraph decided that not only were the AF 447 pilots at fault, but that Airbus has been hiding behind a sidestick design flaw for two decades since the A330 was certified. In another, a writer claims that the angle of attack indicator was faulty. Then ABC’s Nightline claimed last week that Captain Marc Dubois had a lady friend — an Air France flight attendant — along for the ride that night, someone who kept him quite distracted after he departed the cockpit for a rest break.
Technical issues on the A330’s pitot tubes? That’s fact already. Fresh pitots just hadn’t found their way onto this airframe before the accident unfortunately. Major sidestick design flaw though, after 20 years … I don’t believe it.
These airplane stories become easily jumbled up when non-aviation types get too close though. I’m trying to do my part and keep the story straight for some of the mainstream media when I can. Fox News gave me another opportunity last week when the PIC’s girlfriend story began circulating. Fox News and other networks about Air France 447. [Read more…] about Air France 447 Final Report Means an Ugly Summer Ahead
ot here … and how I’ll get back was simply too much even for an ex-airline guy like me. Imagine my shock when it took four different airline partners to complete one trip across the Atlantic.