CONF iture:
Indeed the quote, "Je ne comprends rien," has come from multiple media sources, most of them French, and it has haunted me since I read it -- and I don't mean this in a sensational way. Simply that there is a responsibility to see that the causes of that confusion are addressed -- and perhaps there are issues which have just been carried on and been tolerated, like all the bells and whistles which make those moments even more difficult. (Though of course it is the substantive issues which were the cause of whatever confusion which are most important and clearly need to be addressed.)
Some articles quoting this:
In this story, it's the headline:
Vol Rio-Paris: "Je ne comprends rien", s'écrie l'un des pilotes | France Soir
In this one, it is also the headline and seems to be saying it is from the BEA report. See below.
Rio-Paris : "je ne comprends rien", aurait dit un pilote - France - TF1 News
"Rio-Paris : "je ne comprends rien", aurait dit un pilote
le 26 mai 2011 à 17h34, mis à jour le 26 mai 2011 à 22:54
Le Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses doit publier vendredi un document, tiré de l'analyse des boîtes noires du vol Rio-Paris. Il contiendrait notamment une partie de la conversation des pilotes, quelques minutes avant le crash.
Un des trois pilotes du vol Air France Rio-Paris aurait dit "je ne comprends rien" au moment de la perte de contrôle de l'A330, qui s'abîmera peu après dans l'Atlantique avec 228 personnes à bord, rapportait jeudi France Info s'appuyant sur une note des enquêteurs du BEA."
Basically it's saying that the BEA report contains a part of the conversation between the pilots, from the minutes before the crash. One of the three pilots on the Air France Rio-Paris flight said, "I don't understand anything" ....
Air France crash inquiry details pilots' battle for survival | World news | The Guardian
From the Guardian:
<<French air accident experts published a chilling chronology of events that showed the three Air France pilots battling to regain control on flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in a heavy thunderstorm on the morning of 1 June 2009.
Air France acknowledged that the disaster was triggered by faulty speed sensors, with one of the pilots exclaiming "we have no valid indications" as the Airbus A330 fell at 10,000ft a minute. Moments before the crash, one of the pilots, again unnamed, reportedly shouted "Je ne comprends rien" ("I don't understand a thing").>>
Again in this France Soir article
Airbus, la descente infernale : Tout s
The quote is part of the timeline:
"2 h 11 min 45 s. Tandis que toutes les vitesses redeviennent invalides et que l’alarme de décrochage s’arrête, le commandant de rejoint les deux pilotes dans le cockpit. « Je ne comprends rien », lâche l’un d’entre eux, affirme sur France Info Michel Polaco, pilote instructeur et ancien patron de la station. L’avion tombe alors à grande vitesse et il n’est pas sûr que dans la nuit, en pleine turbulence et au milieu des alarmes, les pilotes s’en rendent compte tout de suite."