Interesting 2008 BEA report on turbulence
A remarkable website of BEA, the French bureau of investigation and analysis for the safety of civil aviation.
No sign of a report on the alleged collision of F-GZCP with another airbus in late 2006, but they do have a report on a similar incident in 2002 between two Italian Airbuses 330 clipping each others wings on French territory. Mmm….
Anyhow, I came across another interesting BEA publication from August 2008, a fully fledged study on “turbulence and air transport”. In French only of course, but never mind. For those who like me want to have go at it, here is the link:
[URL="http://www.bea.aero/etudes/turbulences.en.transport.aerien/turbulences.en.transport.aerien.pdf"]http://www.bea.aero/etudes/turbulences.en.transport.aerien/turbulences.en.transport.aerien.pdf URL]
The 34 pages of the report give a fresh reminder of the treacherous aspects of convective cells naturally also covered in the current pprune thread. The report takes 48 occurrences between 1995 and 2007 with French registered, exploited or produced aircraft in France or abroad as a basis for study. Much more than half of the accidents and incidents have occurred in or next to Cumulonimbus, in which circumstances also the most seriously wounded were registered.
Despite a good flight preparation which includes in many cases an awareness of adverse weather conditions en route, it is stated that many pilots are nonetheless very surprised when they are actually confronted with turbulence. In particular for long distance flights the report points to the aids available to flight crews to stay alert and informed about actual and developing weather conditions en route. The on board weather radar is mentioned in terms of its vital importance, but also the challenges and even shortcomings of its optimal use. And more interesting and useful stuff.One final thing I would like to highlight has to do with the recurrent discussions in this thread about the supposed message that the AF 447 crew sent by ACARS to inform their company that they were experiencing severe turbulence. The report mentions explicitly that some French airline companies, in particular those that fly long distance routes, have dedicated departments that communicate via ACARS on updated weather situations en route. Where those departments are then specifically tasked with providing specific updates on weather to flightcrews. I would be surprised if AF would not have such a dedicated department. In that light an ACARS based exchange sounds very plausible. One of the questions in the AF447 case would then be why it was the pilot informing the dedicated department of the severe weather when they were experiencing it, and not the other way around so that avoiding action could have been taken.