Fuel won't allow that - there aren't many filling stations in the mid Atlantic, and storm systems can be huge.
Air France flight missing over the Atlantic
- Thread starter mr.peany
- Start date
Fuel won't allow that - there aren't many filling stations in the mid Atlantic, and storm systems can be huge.
It's doubtful the plane would be "ripped apart" by a broken windshield. Those jets travel at a bit over 400 NMPH; they probably would have kept the speed on the low end in turbulence.
It could give the pilots a really bad day, and oxygen would be required, but I don't see it damaging the plane catastrophically.
Actually they said that every planes go through that (being hit by lightening) at least twice a year. Places are supposed to work as a Faraday cage and this should not be a problem.
The storm they encountered didn't seem to be a particularly wide one. Surely they don't fuel for airport to airport, and no more. Sounds risky!
Yes, they do this regularly using onboard radar. It's doubtful that turbulence and/or lightening brought this plane down by itself. Probably multiple factors in a chain of events.
These storms can tower up to 60k feet while the plane's maximum ceiling is around 42k feet. So, going around the storms is a key thing. The pilot would've known of the storms.
On theory that seems possible. The turbulence might've shaken some wiring loose. This could've caused an onboard fire. Bad wiring causing fires has caused a number of plane crashes in the past decade or so. Many areas don't have smoke detectors so the fire could've grown too large to handle before anyone noticed. I'm still not sure why the pilots didn't radio because they have independent backup radios. But, maybe they were just overwhelmed.
Mr Awe
They have enough extra fuel to go around storms. They also could've headed towards alternate landing sights that would've avoided the storms.
Interesting. Air France said it was travelling at 520 MPH. I would've guessed that winds going that fast in the cockpit would've damaged a lot of stuff and killed the pilots. True, the planes are designed for winds, but on the outside.
Mr Awe
Either way - it seems like a big mystery. Whatever it was, it must have been a chain-reaction of very bad luck. I guess when it's your time... I hope for their sakes it didn't last any longer than those 4 minutes. 
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^^ Me too. I'm sure it felt like an eternity as it was. I'm fairly certain that, as mysterious as this one sounds, we will find the answer. They can recover things at great depths and I'm sure this plane had the most sophisticated black boxes available. They're already finding the wreckage and should be able to home in on the pinging. It might take a couple of weeks to get assets into the right location once it's located and then months (or years) of investigation but we should get an answer eventually.
Mr Awe
Mr Awe
The most depressing thing about this, is how long it's taken to find out what has happened. It's taken so long to even get to the wreckage. I've always thought when stepping on a plane, that it is known where you are at all times, even when crossing the Atlantic. I didn't realise there was a point at which no radar at all exists. As advanced as we are, we're still left to the elements sometimes. Quite unnerving.
Is it for certain the plane disintegrated in mid air? If it attempted an emergency water landing, there could be survivors drifting on life boats as we speak, although that seems more and more unlikely.
Is it for certain the plane disintegrated in mid air? If it attempted an emergency water landing, there could be survivors drifting on life boats as we speak, although that seems more and more unlikely.
In the case of South African Airways Flight 295 the wreckage was located at a depth of 16,000 feet and it was spread over a large area. The pingers of the flight date recorders were not designed to work at that depth. However the cockpit voice recorder was located and recovered by using a submersible. The flight data recorder was never found. That was 22 years ago and maybe the black-boxes' design, and recovery methods, have improved?
Those poor people. It seemed pretty hopeless all along, but it's sad to see it confirmed.
Yes they have..the data storage has improved as well as survivability and the range of the locator beacons have been improved as well..only 1 issue, will they be able to get a deep submersible in the area in time for the Data recorders to still be broadcasting..
They're required to remain 20 nautical miles clear of severe thunderstorms with intense echos (I think today's new classification is extreme). Pilots should also go around an entire area if storm coverage is 6/10 or greater! These are US flying rules, I'm not sure how much applies to ICAO standards and oceanic flying. I also have no idea what was painted on their airborne radar, or what else could have happened. When I was flying from Chicago to Denver on an MD-80 last month, we flew through a moderate thunderstorm. We got tossed like a salad. I'm a pilot and I was very uncomfortable cause the thoughts running through my head are what's on my mind now: Premature failure, metal fatigue, complications to flight arising from compromising situation.
Aw, I'm sorry to hear that
Sorry to hear that, Aike. This is a terrible tragedy.
From what they said of the Rio to Paris run, huge thunderstorms are common. The flight crew might be more aggressive because of it. I have no doubt that played some role in the accident.
Knew one of the passengers a little
The Today show gave some brief, heartbreaking stories:
Three Irish female doctors on holiday, one was in Riverdance
Flight attendant just back from maternity leave, leaving behind a four-month old
Employees and their wives that won a contest for a Rio holiday
Captain of the flight due to retire soon after a long career...all so horrible.
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