For those of you who have been with us for some time, here's some of what the report says that's interesting, or novel.
ACARS messages:
Anyone interested in the problems of sorting out the timing of ACARS messages should read the report, as it lays in out detail the logic behind the transmission order, and the shortcomings of using ACARS messages in this way. Faults are accumulated and transmitted in hierarchical order every minute. Warnings are transmitted in real time. Not every problem results in a fault, and not every warning corresponds to one either.
They do not have an explanation for the TCAS fault at this time.
The do have reason to suspect that the 30-second+ intervals in transmissions starting at 0213 are caused by an interruption of the satellite connection.
There's an automated position report at 0210. (this has been noted already here)
Weather:
at 0210, AF447 was in the middle of a mass composed of 4 CB cells that had grown together (an hour and a half before?), with tops around 52,000 feet.
Weather information:
There's one little note: the SIGMET that expired at 0200 may have contained an error:
WSBZ31 SBRE 311752
SBRE SIGMET 5 VALID 311800/312200 SBRE-RECIFE FIR EMBD TS FCST SW OF CLARK PSN/ PEPER PSN/ NEURA PSN AREA TOP FL350 STNR NC=
On peut s’interroger sur la validité de ce message, pour deux raisons :
ˆˆ la ligne AB est orientée sud-ouest / nord-est or, en pareil cas, on attendrait une mention SE OF ou NE NW OF, et non SW OF comme c’est le cas dans le SIGMET,
ˆˆ les images satellite pendant la durée de validité du SIGMET positionnent
la zone de convection plutôt au nord-ouest de la ligne AB qu’au sud-est.
Il est donc envisageable que ce SIGMET comporte une erreur, avec une
mention SW OF au lieu d’une mention NW OF. Dans cette hypothèse, le SIGMET 5 SBRE viendrait compléter la zone identifiée dans la FIR ATLANTICO, comme représenté par le tracé vert dans la figure ci-après
(I'm assuming for 'sud-est' on the second bullet, they meant 'sud-ouest')
Radar:
This has already been treated above. Other flights saw the weather on radar (when placed in the correct mode). AF has a detailed chapter on wx radar operation in their "supplementary aeronautical manual" which "is not imposed by regulation".
In short, we know that they flew into the middle of a huge thunderstorm without any meaningful deviation. The flight went down sometime thereafter. The interruptions in ACARS messages imply that an upset may have occurred as early as 0213.