Air France 447 - Search For Air France Flight Answers Begins
Frances Fiorino fiorino@aviationweek.com
Updates on this story are also being filed at the Things With Wings blog.
As hopes for a miracle of survival for Air France Flight 447 and its 228 occupants dissipates, the search for answers to what happened on board the Airbus A330-200 grows -- with some fearing the worst, and others hoping against hope that the crew had been able to divert to another airport or coast to a water landing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Flight 447 failed to answer calls from controllers about 3.5 hours after its departure from Rio de Janeiro, and following an encounter with thunderstorms and strong turbulence. At 2:14 GMT, the A330's Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting datalink System (ACARS) indicated an electrical system failure. Other reports, unconfirmed, say the aircraft suffered "multiple catastrophic failures," but what type of failures and on what aircraft systems is yet unknown.
Two major acidents in Brazil's aviation history had very different outcomes: One, which might be called the "Miracle of the Azores," resulted in a happy ending, while the other, a midair collision, is considered Brazil's most serious airliner accident to date:
On Aug. 24, 2001, an Air Transat A330-200, the same aircraft type as involved in Flight 447, experienced a dual-engine flameout of its two Rolls-Royce Trent 700B engines. Air Transat Flight 236 had departed Toronto Pearson International Airport with 306 people on board, bound for Lisbon, Portugal. A fuel leak caused the right engine to lose power when the aircraft was about 185 nautical miles from the nearest airport at Lajes AB, Terceira Island, Azores, Then, at 70 nm from the airfield, at 34,500 ft. altitude, Flight 236's left engine lost power. Although bursting eight of 10 tires on touchdown, the aircraft landed safely and all on board survived.
Brazil's worst air disaster occurred on Sept. 29, 2006, when all 155 people on board a GOL Boeing 737-800 died in a midair collision with an ExcelAire Embraer Legacy 600 business jet (N600XL) over the Amazon jungle.
The two aircraft, each equipped with the latest traffic collision avoidance equipment, were at the same 37,000-ft. altitude, the GOL aircraft traveling southeast, the business jet northwest. The business jet with all seven occupants, landed safely at Novo Progresso-Cachimbo air base. But the 737 crashed into the Amazon jungle, about 30 km. from Peixoto de Azevedo in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso (about 1,100 miles northwest of Rio).
Brazil drew worldwide criticism from international aviation authorities for its criminalization of the accident, holding the two ExcelAire pilots responsible for the crash. Air traffic controllers, meanwhile, said Brazil's antiquated air traffic control system was at fault.
Meanwhile, two Brazilian air force squadrons continued their search for Air France Flight 447. The prognosis is grim. "We are probably facing a catastrophe," Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said at a news conference this afternoon as friends and families of those on board aircraft awaited confirmation of the airliner's fate.
For details about the Airbus A330-200, go to airbus.com/crisis/techdata.html and airbus.com/crisis/aircraftdesc.html
Based on preliminary accident information, the Airbus A330-200 (FGZCP), powered by two GE CF6-80E1A3 engines, had departed Rio de Janeiro Galeao International Airport at about 7 p.m. local time for Paris Charles DeGaulle, where it was scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. local time. Twelve crewmembers and 216 passengers were on board. Flight 447 is believed to have perished in the region of the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, about 226 mi. off the northeastern coast of Brazil.
Brazil's CENIPA accident investigation authority will likely lead the probe. The French accident investigation office, BEA, has been notified, and Airbus has offered full technical assistance.
File photo of Air France A330-200: Airbus
