Prints
Hello Roulis,
I have to scan through the BEA report to find your reference to the ACARS print events.
ACARS and ACMS setup may differ from company to company, but
usually, pilots only get (or make) prints of messages that are addressed to them. Technical messages by ACMS are handled autonomously by the system, no pilot input or checking applies - take for instance the Take-off reports for engine trend monitoring. Only out of curiosity (and boredom) will a pilot ever search for those. The airspeed / Air Data discrepancies that were sent to Air France maintenance were "not for pilot's eyes" . That does not mean that were "kept secret" from the pilots, it is only so that the pilots get their technical indications from ECAM. The indications of what the airplane is doing, is displayed on the Primary Flight Display.
ECAM doen't overwhelm you, you (the pilot) must properly prioritize your tasks, always, all the time.
Could the listing of cryptic messages on ECAM be called a pain in the ass, confusing, etcetera? Yes, but as a pilot, you must be able to cut through the crap, simply keep the nose of the aircraft near the horizon and sort things out properly.
The transcript of the CVR shows, uh, a lot of silence, during the falling piano act of the aircraft, not really a well orchestrated trouble shoot of a nasty, but otherwise simple malfunction.
The ACARS prints that were heard on the CVR may have been weather reports for the enroute alternates, that is the sort of things that pilots use the set for.
Checked the report, found these events.
00:41:50 Noise similar to tearing off an ACARS sheet
01:04:57 Noise of paper being torn
Read the transcript text and you will find it is exactly what I meant: communication with dispatch about alternate airfields, weather, etcetera. During the falling piano act, there is no printer activity listed.
Edited for transcription quotes.
Last edited by EMIT; 5th August 2012 at 21:31.