ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Duke's Damage Control</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="116" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="24" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="465" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="18" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="283" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="26"> <td width="624" height="26" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td width="116" height="2574" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="489" height="1" colspan="3"></td> <td width="18" height="2574" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="2573"> <td width="489" height="2573" colspan="3" align="left" xpos="116" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="5"><b> <br /> Air France&#39;s Liability</b></font> <p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright June 6, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span class="style1">W</span>hen Air France Flight 447 plunged into the south Atlantic off the north coast of Brazil May 31, fingers pointed in all directions, including possible terrorism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>More careful analysis of the plane s final data transmissions points toward some type of instrument failure perhaps due to a violent electrical storm in the flight path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>As the Brazilian Navy plucked two bodies out of the water 70 kilometers [45 miles] south of where the plane lost radio contact, around 640 kilometers [400 miles] northeast of the Fernando de Noronha Islands off Brazil s northern coast, Air France officials admitted that the Airbus A330 had not yet replaced potentially defective air-speed sensors, causing the plane to go too fast or two slow in difficult atmospheric conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> France s accident investigation agency, BEA, acknowledged the plane flew into a massive thunderstorm before losing contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>En route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, Flight 447 disappeared May 31 off the radar, stunning the aviation world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>BEA officials also admitted that instrument readings prior to disappearance indicated that airspeed readings showed inconsistency flying into a massive thunderstorm with wind downdrafts approaching 100 mph.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> They hadn t yet been replaced on the plane known as Flight 447, said BEA lead investigator Alain Bouillard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether or not failure to replace airspeed censors known as Pitot tubes contributed to the plane s disappearance is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one in the press or connected with the investigation questioned why the Air France pilot proceeded to fly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>into a dangerous weather system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All reports indicate the plane hit dangerous winds in a massive thunderstorm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Regardless of the sensors, changing the flight plan would have averted the storm.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>There s no excuse for an airline s weather control not to delay or divert flights based on atmospheric conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It s inconceivable that the pilot would have gotten the green light to fly into what meteorologists call a  massive thunder/lightening storm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With ocean depths near the crash area around 10,000 ft., it s going to be difficult to recover the  black boxes containing cockpit voice recordings and flight data recorder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>French authorities warned against jumping to conclusions, saying  it does not mean that without replacing the Pitots that the A-330 was dangerous. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>How about the BEA s opinion about allowing their pilot to fly into the eye of a dangerous electrical storm?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sensors or not, flight control should have never allowed Flight 447 to fly directly into a dangerous storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether the BEA rules in or out mechanical failure, maintaining the same flight plan involved negligence.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Brazilian authorities confirmed recovery of two bodies, backpack with laptop computer and leather briefcase with an Air France ticket for Flight 447.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> It was confirmed with Air France that the ticket number corresponds to a passenger on the flight, said Paul-Loius Arsianian, head of the BEA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While investigators focus on whether airspeed sensors iced-over or malfunctioned, they ignore granting permission to fly into the eye of a dangerous electrical storm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  Following similar problems frequently encountered on the A320 fleet, preventative actions have already been decided and applied, read a report after an incident on a Tokyo to Paris flight where Pitot tubes iced over, causing erratic airspeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Air France took corrective action replacing Pitot tubes on its A320 fleet, making them  less susceptible to these weather conditions, ignoring a change in flight plan.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Air France s head of weather forecasting indicated that weather conditions were typical for the south Atlantic, predicting violent storms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If that s true, it s even more unthinkable that flight controllers wouldn t have given the pilot of Flight 447 a new flight plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Former managing director of the National Transportation and Safety Board Peter Goelz said Airbus s report urging replacement of airspeed sensors  certainly raises questions about whether the Pitot tubes, which are critical to the pilot s understanding of what s going on, were operating effectively. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Maneuvering in a dangerous electrical storm would require all systems to be operating like clockwork.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All the talk about faulty airspeed sensors diverts attention away from the more basic question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Why fly into a dangerous electrical storm?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Air France s liability expanded from mechanical failure to flight control negligence.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Recovering the cockpit voice recorder and flight dada recorder should shed some slight on what happened to Flight 447.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Two-hundred-twenty-eight souls plunged to their deaths in what looks like an avoidable accident.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Even with new Pitot tubes, the advisability of flying into a dangerous electrical storm has to be questioned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Changing flight plans or delaying flights until the weather clears make perfect sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While hindsight is always 20/20, Airline personnel must error on the side of caution when dealing with inclement weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Upgrading planes only makes sense, especially when the manufacturer urges airlines to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No one can blame unexpected acts of God for catastrophic accidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Weather forecasting, while not a precise science, gives enough warning to airlines about possible dangerous conditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Focusing on minutia often loses the bigger picture.</p> <p><u><b>About the Author</b></u></p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2573"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2573"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="24" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="24" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="283" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="283" height="1"></td> <td width="18" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="18" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2002 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>