Cockpit terror revealed in Air France A330 Airbus recordings

Three irish doctors were killed in Brazil flight crash in Atlantic

CATHY HAYES,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 7:43 AM

Updated Tuesday, August 2, 2011, 10:14 AM

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Brazilian Navy sailors pick a piece of debris from Air France flight AF447 out of the Atlantic Ocean, some 745 miles (1,200 km) northeast of Recife, in this handout photo distributed by the Navy June 8, 2009. Brazilian search crews retrieved more bodies and debris from a crashed Air France plane in the Atlantic and air investigators said faulty speed readings had been detected on the same type of jets.

Photo by REUTERS/Brazilian Navy

Three young Irish doctors were among the 228 victims who perished when the Air France A330 Airbus crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009.

The Irish doctors who were killed on the flight were Jane Deasy (27), from Rathgar, County Dublin; Dr Eithne Walls (28), from Ballygowan, County Down; and Dr Aisling Butler (26), from Roscrea, County Tipperary. Only Dr. Deasy's body has been recovered..

Recently released transcripts of the cockpit recordings now revealed the panic that descended in the cockpit prior to the crash.

"What do you think? What do you think? What should we do?"

The Air France co-pilot (37) asked his junior colleague, as an alarm went off in the cock pit for the sixth time in two minutes, Reuters reports.

"I don't have control of the plane. I don't have control of the plane at all," the younger pilot (32) said.

The senior captain was not present and had left ten minutes earlier for a break. In his absence the plane had begun to fall at a speed of more than 125mph.

"So is he coming?" the senior co-pilot questioned.

When the captain entered he asked “Hey what are you --,"
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Read more:

Bodies of Irish lost in Air France crash will remain mummified at sea

Irish families in agonizing wait as crews search Air France crash site

Wreckage from Air France plane crash discovered in the Atlantic
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"What's happening? I don't know, I don't know what's happening," replied the senior co-pilot.

The black box was recovered two months ago and investigators believe the plane had stopped flying as it entered a hazardous stall.

"I don't know but right now we're descending," the senior captain said.

"What's the altitude?"

"What do you mean what altitude?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm descending right?"

"Get your wings horizontal" ordered the senior captain.

"Level your wings" said the first co-pilot.

"That's what I'm trying to do," responded the second.

The flight was in its final minute at 10,000 feet after plummeting from 38,000.

"What the... how is it we are going down like this?" Asked the second co-pilot.

"See what you can do with the commands up there, the primaries and so on," said the senior co-pilot adding: "Climb climb climb climb."

"But I have been pulling back on the stick all the way for a while," said the second co-pilot.

"No, no, no, don't climb." said the captain.

"Okay, give me control, give me control,"sSaid the senior co-pilot.

"Watch out, you are pulling up,“ warned the captain.

"Well you should, we are at 4,000," said the junior co-pilot.

The computer spoke. "Sink rate. Pull up, pull up, pull up."

“Go on,” the captain urged, "pull."

"We're pulling, pulling, pulling, pulling," said the junior co-pilot.

The transcript showed that the three men attempted to try and right the plane throughout the final four minutes. They did not discuss at any point the possibility they and the passengers were about to die.

Nster.com

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bonjouryall | Aug 04, 2011, 02:33 PM EDT

For anyone interested, there was a good tv presentation on what may have occurred that I summarized - See Pilots to blame article dated May 19, 2011 on this site. Nothing here contradicts the theory presented, but the younger French pilot obviously needed A LOT more training for this type of situation.

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sirpeter | Aug 03, 2011, 07:42 PM EDT

That conversation doesn't give one much confidence to fly."I don't know, I don't know what's happening," replied the senior co-pilot.That part makes me very nervous.Sounds as if they panicked.@Colkelley you can be the pilot on the next flight I take :))

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tomgallagher | Aug 02, 2011, 10:31 AM EDT

I can't believe that this crew didn't realize that the airplane was in a stall condition and take basic recovery action that they all should have learned when they started learning how to fly. I understand that at one put the stall warning (stick shaker) sounded for a full 52 seconds and nobody acknowledged it or took any action because of it.

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Liamkeyes | Aug 02, 2011, 10:17 AM EDT

it's very easy to be wise after the event. Seemingly, the pilots felt that they could pull out of the dive,

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colkelley | Aug 02, 2011, 09:38 AM EDT

This is why former military pilots are to be preferred. From my personal experience flying in the Navy we practiced emergencies and emergency procedures on EVERY flight, whether it was an operational flight or just a transit from one place to another. This failure was a failure to understand the most basic concepts of powered flight...the airplane was losing speed and falling out of the sky nose high and they cut power and pulled the nose up further?!? All they needed to do was realize that their airspeed indicator had failed (icing of the static port), put the nose down slightly and add max power and everyone would have survived. This is NOT a story to build confidence in the training or experience of Air France pilots.

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