FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Gaz]

yeh my work collogues' friends dad was on the flight.

[EwanM]

I saw in one report that the automatic radio transmissions first reported loss of cabin pressure. That would put everyone on the plane into a hypoxia induced coma. No one would be aware their plane was going down or aware of crashing. If this is the scenario, then at least they didn't suffer.

they have oxygen masks. you wouldn't go into hypoxia that fast, would prob take 4mins or so.

it takes 10-30secs to put a mask on.

There is evidence to suggest in the Lockerbie crash that although passengers initially passed out at 30,000+ ft, when they reached more oxygen-rich air c. 10,000ft, they may well have regained consciousness. Thus some may have been well aware that the plane was going down.

My Grandparents stay near Lockerbie. When they heard the crash and looked out they described it as "looking into hell" the sky was lit up over in the direction, horrible horrible site. Horrible tradegy. I was in Lockerbie on Wednesday actually, had to use the post office to send some letters to France (long story)

But yes, at first they had no idea it was a bomb until they found a tiny piece of evidence in the forest miles away.
Like in the case of this disaster, the Pan-Am flight was scheduled to blow up when they would be over water, but due to the delay it only reached lockerbie etc etc.

Sad reality is, nothing can really be ruled out with the Air France disaster, especially when they had no mayday call.

[madbrad]

The masks only have enough oxygen to allow time to get down to a lower altitude. We have no idea what happened so the possibility is still there that they got hypoxia. After enough time(and it's not much time, on the order of several minutes) in that state, you get to a point that's irrecoverable and you will never wake up no matter how much oxygen they give you. It has happened before, the autopilot keeps it at altitude and on course with no one to do anything different. One such case had the plane circling the airport until it ran out of gas and crashed into a hill.

Anyway of course I'm not asserting my scenario happened. As I said we don't know what happened, what the timeline of events was, and never will if they don't find the FDR or CVR. I was expressing a hope for something merciful and these posts shooting that down are trying to take that away from me.

I'm like, I hoope they didn't suffer, and yer like, I want to think they did suffer.

[McLaren Fan]

This is a terrible tragedy. What happened, however, is completely uncertain, and might not ever be known because the beacon on the flight data recorder only lasts for about a month. It could have been a bomb, but I'd say what happened is something to do with the tropical storms. The region in which the aircraft vanished is prone to freak storms, whose lightning is too strong for aircraft (however well protected) and whose turbulence could cause an aircraft to disintegrate with ease.

[Hanwombat]

Its so sad, Ive never been on a plane and this is one of the reasons why. I know plans don't crash alot and your more likely to be in a car collision, but when a plane does crash their is a big death toll.

I hate it when it shows pictures of the victims, so sad

[bud]

If you have ever watched air crash investigators then youll know there is many many things that can go wrong however rare it may have been. to jump to conclusions at this point is foolish!

[texasmr2]

yeh my work collogues' friends dad was on the flight.

Sorry to hear that mate my condolences to all of you, must be a terrible feeling .

Its so sad, Ive never been on a plane and this is one of the reasons why.

That is why I start drinking asap .

[Denthúl]

If you have ever watched air crash investigators then youll know there is many many things that can go wrong however rare it may have been. to jump to conclusions at this point is foolish!

I watch that and I agree, some of the reasons for planes going down are things that you would never think of!

[welshie]

More info on bbc news website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8086860.stm

[Gaz]

yeh my work collogues' friends dad was on the flight.

Sorry to hear that mate my condolences to all of you, must be a terrible feeling .

No i didn't know the guy, but bring it close to home really

[EwanM]

Lost plane 'sent 24 error alerts'

The Air France jet which went missing over the Atlantic sent 24 error messages minutes before it crashed, French investigators say.

Investigators also said the plane's autopilot was not on, though they do not know if it had been switched off or was not working.

Weather experts said there was no evidence storms the plane encountered were "exceptional" for the season.

The Airbus A330 vanished en-route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on Monday.

Officials do not know what triggered the plane's problems, but it was flying through an area of thunder storms and turbulence.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris, the director of France's air accident investigation agency, Paul-Louis Arslanian, said a total of 24 error messages were received in the final moments of Air France 447, as its systems shut down one by one.

But he said it was impossible to tell from the plane's signals why the autopilot was not on.

Faulty speed meters

Mr Arslanian confirmed that the missing jet had had a problem calculating its speed, adding that it was a recurring problem on the A330s and that Airbus was undertaking a replacement programme.

SEARCH FOR FLIGHT AF 447
# 1 June: Contact lost with plane over mid-Atlantic
# 2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane
# 3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface
# 4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement

"We have seen a certain number of these types of faults on the A330," Mr Arslanian said. "There is a programme of replacement, of improvement."

But he insisted the planes were safe in the meantime.

The deputy head of the French weather service, Alain Ratier, said the weather pattern was normal at the time that Flight 447 disappeared.

"According to the analysis of the infrared images, there is nothing to suggest that there was a cluster of thunderstorms of exceptional intensity," Mr Ratier said.

"Certainly there was powerful cumulo-nimbus [storm clouds], but these are found frequently in this area and in normal climactic conditions," he added.

Search efforts

Hopes of locating the plane have been frustrated so far.

Brazilian search teams first said on Tuesday they may have spotted debris from the plane. But material recovered from the sea on Thursday turned out to be unrelated to the Air France jet.

Efforts are now focusing on the two sonar beacons - or "pingers" - attached to the flight's data recorders boxes, the BBC's Hugh Schofield reports from Paris.

But at the news conference, a spokesman for France's accident investigation bureau said there was no guarantee the beacons were still attached to the flight recorders.

He said, given the likely force of the impact of a crash, they could easily have become separated.

On Friday, French Defence Minister Herve Morin said a French submarine was being sent to join in the search since it had sonar equipment that could help locate the airliner's flight data recorders.

The US is also sending specialised listening equipment.

Without the data recorders, investigators are unlikely to determine the cause of the crash, our correspondent says.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 086860.stm

Published: 2009/06/06 11:14:47 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[EwanM]

Breaking news: Brazilian Officials say they've just uncovered some bodies

[EwanM]

Bodies 'found' from missing plane

Bodies and debris have been found from the Air France plane which went missing over the Atlantic last Monday, the Brazilian air force has said.

The remains were taken from the water at 0814 Brazilian time (1114 GMT), said spokesman Jorge Amaral.

Experts on human remains are on their way to examine the find.

All 228 passengers and crew on board AF 447 are believed to have been killed when the plane disappeared during its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

"We confirm the recovery from the water debris and bodies from the Air France plane," Col Amaral said at a news conference in the northern city of Recife.

"We can't give more information without confirming what we have."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/w ... 087303.stm

Published: 2009/06/06 16:58:48 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[Rivelution]

Thats sad. Do you think they're getting closer to finding the plane?

[McLaren Fan]

I suppose it depends on the sea currents etc. The bodies could have drifted for some distance, but they probably narrow the search area down somewhat.