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An in-depth review as Search continues; Missing Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330 Jet
By Amarendra Bhushan for CEOWORLD Magazine Updated:June 2, 2009
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My heart aches and eyes fill with tears as I read about Air France flight 447 mishaps. I can visualize the feelings of these relatives and the moment they had to go through. I remember once when I had to go through the turbulence and I felt I will never return to this world.
My heartfelt condolences to the families that lost their loved ones and for the crew that must have had the worst time struggling to save not just themselves but their passengers who place complete trust in them.
The search for the missing aircraft is continuing over the Atlantic Ocean today following the disappearance of an Air France plane yesterday morning, with Brazilian aircraft equipped with sensors.
The Air France jet, an Airbus A330-200, was carrying 216 passengers from 32 countries comprised 126 men, 82 women, seven children and a baby on its route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it is believed to have vanished in a severe thunderstorm on Monday.
There were also 12 French crew members on board.
The Airbus A330-200, bound for Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT) on Sunday. It was scheduled to arrive in Paris at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT) on Monday.
It had apparently sent an automatic message indicating an electrical fault in the minutes before it disappeared from radar screens.
An initial search operation yesterday found no trace of any wreckage or survivors. France has also asked Washington to use its spy satellites and listening posts to help with the search.
However, the pilot of another jet has apparently reported seeing what appeared to be fire in the Atlantic ocean, along the route of an Air France jet that disappeared more than 24 hours ago.
The Pentagon said on Monday it had dispatched a surveillance aircraft and a search and rescue team to help Brazilian and French aircraft.
Few details about missing Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330 Jet!
- A Filipino was among the 228 people on Air France Flight 447 that probably crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday evening, the Philippine embassy in Brazil.
- Air France announced Monday that victims aboard the airplane were from 32 countries, including 58 Brazilians, 61 French, 26 Germans, nine Chinese and nine Italians.
- The airliner identified the nationalities of the other victims as: Argentinean (1); Austrian (1); Belgian (1); Brazilian (58); British (5); Canadian (1); Chinese (9); Croatian (1); Danish (1); Dutch (1); Estonian (1); Filipino (1); French (61); Gambian (1); German (26); Hungarian (4); Icelandic (1); Irish (3); Italian (9); Lebanese (5); Moroccan (2); Norwegian (3); Polish (2); Romanian (1); Russian (1); Slovakian (3); Spanish (2); Swedish (1); Swiss (6); Turkish (1).
- Two Americans on board- Michael Harris (geologist in Rio de Janeiro for Devon Energy), and his wife, Anne.
- The jet was 4 years old and had last undergone routine maintenance April 16.
- Its crew- three pilots, including a captain who had logged 11,000 hours in flight, and nine cabin crew members
- Two co-pilots, one had 3,000 hours of flying experience and the other 6,600 hours.
- The aircraft had flown 18,870 hours.
- The jet, which was flying at 35,000 feet and at 521 mph, also sent a warning that it had lost pressure.
- It was expected to check in with air traffic controllers at 03:20 a.m. but did not do so.
- Five Britons were on board, One of the British victims, a woman from Wales, was travelling with three Irish women, who were doctors.
- A Canadian Brad Clemes, 49 was on board
Air France accidents Timeline:
December 17, 2005: An Air France Boeing 777 makes an emergency landing at Irkutsk in Siberia when one of its two engines breaks down on a flight from Seoul to Paris. None of the 246 passengers or 17 crew were injured.
August 3, 2005: An Air France A340 passenger jet with up to 309 passengers and crew on board skids off the end of the runway and bursts into flames after landing in a thunder storm at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
July 6, 2005: An Air France jet runs into a stray cow as it lands in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt. No one is injured in the incident.
July 25, 2000: All 109 passengers and crew and four people on the ground are killed when an Air France Concorde jet crashes after catching fire on take-off near Paris.
Sept 11 2001: 2,907 people killed when terrorists flew two aircraft into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York .
May 25, 2001: An Air France Airbus 340 makes a crash landing at Cayenne airport in French Guiana, landing 30 metres too soon. No casualities.
About Airbus A330:
Airbus A330 is a large-capacity, wide-body, twin-engine, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner.
Manufacturer- Airbus
First flight- 2 November 1992
Number built- 600 as of 31 March 2009
It can carry up to 256 passengers in a three-class aircraft and cover a range of 10,500km.
The aircraft can fly at 880kph at a cruising altitude of 10,700 metres.
The A330-200 is 59 metres long and has a wingspan of 60.30 metres.
Airbus A330: Accidents and incidents-
On 1 June 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 216 passengers onboard was reported lost over the Atlantic Ocean.
On 7 October 2008, VH-QPA, an A330-303 operating Qantas Flight 72, suffered a rapid loss of altitude in two sudden uncommanded pitch down manoeuvres causing serious injuries while 80 nautical miles (150 km) from Learmonth, Australia.
On 18 July 2003, B-HYA, a Dragonair A330-342 encountered severe turbulence associated with Tropical Depression Koni over the South China Sea, during the flight KA060 from Kota Kinabalu to Hong Kong.
On 24 August 2001, Air Transat, Flight 236, an A330-243, performed the world’s longest recorded glide with a jet airliner after suffering fuel exhaustion over the Atlantic Ocean.
On 24 July 2001, two Sri Lankan Airlines A330-243s were destroyed on ground by an LTTE attack at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport, Sri Lanka, along with an Airbus A320-200, an Airbus A340-300 and a squadron of military aircraft.
On 15 March 2000, Malaysia Airlines A330-300 aircraft was severely damaged by corrosive liquids that were being transported in the cargo hold on a passenger flight from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur.
On 30 June 1994, an A330 owned by Airbus on a test flight simulating an engine failure on takeoff crashed shortly after take-off from Toulouse, killing all seven on board.
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