PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - AF 447 Thread No. 6
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Old 29th Aug 2011, 11:06
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Old Carthusian
 
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JD-EE
I am not sure what you are driving at - nothing connected with the plane failed after the initial pitot tube problems. The pilots were inadequately trained, their CRM was poor, they made no attempt to follow SOPs - the PF seems to have been suffering from acute stress reaction (shock). Nothing in fact to do with the machine but everything to do with the people and the airline.

The airplane was perfectly flyable and should have been flyable on instruments alone. Too many people are grasping at straws and thinking that somehow the machine or the warnings had a big impact on the accident. It didn't, the PF was the one who made the NU inputs and it wasn't because of cognitive overload and not hearing the stall warnings - there were three pilots. The PF panicked and went into shock pulling back on the stick. That's all there is to it. Air France training and cockpit procedures didn't give the PNF the authority or confidence to override the PF. By the time sufficient authority arrived (the Captain) it was too late.

The maxim that all pilots should follow - know your machine and these guys didn't. This is not the responsibility of the machine. It is the responsibility of the pilots and the airline.
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