AF422 Emergency Landing Azores
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The passenger who is interviewed states (my interpretation for those too lazy to watch the video): "There was no information. The cabin crew didn't speak English. They said they are a French Airline and only speak French".
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AF422 did not make the only unscheduled landing at Lajes that day:
Incident: Lufthansa B744 over Atlantic on Mar 5th 2012, medical emergency
Incident: Lufthansa B744 over Atlantic on Mar 5th 2012, medical emergency
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While I certainly don't know what transpired on this flight, I must report that on every international flight that I have been on with a major carrier (and AF is certainly one), all cabin announcements have been made in both the language of the originating country and in the language of the destination country. Thus, while this flight may not have been staffed with CC who speak English, I can't believe that it had no Spanish-speaking CC. Of course, whether these Spanish speaking CC actually made any announcements, I cannot opine.
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Patowalker
Colombia was where I first came across passengers clapping when the aircraft landed. That probably says something about how they might react in an emergency.
Please do keep stupid pointless regional comments like that to yourself.
Sincerely,
A Colombian pilot
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Clapping in the Caribbean, or nearby lands, is not uncommon.
I love this comment -
The cabin crew didn't speak English. They said they are a French Airline and only speak French".
What language did they say "We're a French Airline and only speak French"??? Either it was said in English OR the person being quoted speaks French.
LOL.
I love this comment -
The cabin crew didn't speak English. They said they are a French Airline and only speak French".
What language did they say "We're a French Airline and only speak French"??? Either it was said in English OR the person being quoted speaks French.
LOL.
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Here is the full Air France statement;
Air France would like to apologize to the passengers of flight AF 422, travelling from Paris-CDG to Bogota, which had to divert to Terceira in the Azores yesterday, 5 March 2012.
The Airbus A340, which left Paris-CDG on 5 March 2012 with 274 passengers on board and 14 crew members, landed in Terceira (Azores) due to a technical problem.
During the flight, at cruising altitude and approximately 200 kms from the coast of the Azores, a smoke alarm sounded in the cabin crew rest area. The Flight Captain decided to divert to the nearest airport as a precautionary measure to guarantee passenger safety. This decision is in line with the manufacturer's procedures and Company instructions.In line with procedures, the cabin crew, in charge of passenger safety, put on the breathing protection masks to inspect the rest area.
No smoke was detected.
The crew nevertheless continued to Terceira airport, after having emptied fuel in line with the manufacturer's instructions.
The crew informed the passengers in French, English and Spanish, of the reasons for the diversion.
The aircraft landed normally around thirty minutes later in Terceira at 14:26 local time.
The crew reported no injuries, illness or panic among the passengers, who left the aircraft normally using both of the airport's jetways.
Air France provided them with accommodation at hotels around the airport.
Following an investigation by the airport fire department and maintenance teams, no trace of smoke or any other irregularity was found on the aircraft.
The diversion of an aircraft is a situation which presents no risks, for which the crews are trained and have experience.
To continue the trip to Bogota, an Air France Airbus A340 was sent to Terceira a few hours after the event. The passengers took off this afternoon at 15:38 local time from Terceira to Bogota. The landing is scheduled for 18:43 local time in Bogota.
The Flight Captain is highly experienced and is also an instructor.
The Chief Purser is of Argentinian origin and speaks fluent Spanish.
The Airbus A340, which left Paris-CDG on 5 March 2012 with 274 passengers on board and 14 crew members, landed in Terceira (Azores) due to a technical problem.
During the flight, at cruising altitude and approximately 200 kms from the coast of the Azores, a smoke alarm sounded in the cabin crew rest area. The Flight Captain decided to divert to the nearest airport as a precautionary measure to guarantee passenger safety. This decision is in line with the manufacturer's procedures and Company instructions.In line with procedures, the cabin crew, in charge of passenger safety, put on the breathing protection masks to inspect the rest area.
No smoke was detected.
The crew nevertheless continued to Terceira airport, after having emptied fuel in line with the manufacturer's instructions.
The crew informed the passengers in French, English and Spanish, of the reasons for the diversion.
The aircraft landed normally around thirty minutes later in Terceira at 14:26 local time.
The crew reported no injuries, illness or panic among the passengers, who left the aircraft normally using both of the airport's jetways.
Air France provided them with accommodation at hotels around the airport.
Following an investigation by the airport fire department and maintenance teams, no trace of smoke or any other irregularity was found on the aircraft.
The diversion of an aircraft is a situation which presents no risks, for which the crews are trained and have experience.
To continue the trip to Bogota, an Air France Airbus A340 was sent to Terceira a few hours after the event. The passengers took off this afternoon at 15:38 local time from Terceira to Bogota. The landing is scheduled for 18:43 local time in Bogota.
The Flight Captain is highly experienced and is also an instructor.
The Chief Purser is of Argentinian origin and speaks fluent Spanish.
Passengers Under stress Clapping
I have seen numerous videos and experienced several landings where passengers under stress have clapped when the wheels touched the ground.
The majority of these had english speaking passengers and crew
I suspect it is a way of confirming finality that whatever abnormality that they had no control over was now ended (human nature ?)
The majority of these had english speaking passengers and crew
I suspect it is a way of confirming finality that whatever abnormality that they had no control over was now ended (human nature ?)
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How can anyone give an accurate account when in a total panic? That bit always puzzles me.
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Doesn't mean this is the only nor first country where people do that. Passengers and media are pretty much the same, at least, in Latin America and on some other areas of the world, obviously.
Please do keep stupid pointless regional comments like that to yourself.
Sincerely,
A Colombian pilot
Please do keep stupid pointless regional comments like that to yourself.
Sincerely,
A Colombian pilot
The panic mentioned by Europeans passengers is not borne out by the comments of Colombian passengers. I am inclined to agree that the reaction was to sob and pray, rather than shout in panic.
Aterrizaje de emergencia de vuelo Bogot-Paris, de Air France - Noticias de Europa - Mundo - ELTIEMPO.COM
As for the clapping on landing, I think it is an insult to pilots, akin to shouting "Hooray!" for getting it down in one piece. Having flown many times on Avianca, Aerocondor, SAM and ACES, I have a high regard for your colleagues and think they deserve more respect.
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@patowalker
IMO, 40+ years in Latin America, 7 in Colombia and a daughter born in Pereira give me the right to comment.
The minute I heard about this incident it just seemed unbelievable that there was so much fuss about a diversion. Things were just completely blown out of proportion, a true storm in a teacup.
That's why I stopped watching news on the telly here; it's all just rubbish and more rubbish.
Given that there hasn't been any type of comment regarding the flight crew, they appear to have done everything correctly and managed an abnormal situation properly.
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While not wanting to suggest blame and agreeing the flight deck did a good job it appears the cabin crew could have explained the situation better to the passengers who may have memories of a previous AF accident.
Air France appear to have a problem with their flight attendants lack of communication skills.
Air France appear to have a problem with their flight attendants lack of communication skills.
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What language did they say "We're a French Airline and only speak French"??? Either it was said in English OR the person being quoted speaks French.
I can say quite confidently "I do not speak language-x" in language-x, where language-x is any of French, German or Japanese (or English). That does not mean that I can hold a conversation or deliver an explanation of anything in any of those languages.
I have seen numerous videos and experienced several landings where passengers under stress have clapped when the wheels touched the ground.
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I can say quite confidently "I do not speak language-x" in language-x, where language-x is any of French, German or Japanese (or English). That does not mean that I can hold a conversation or deliver an explanation of anything in any of those languages.
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Diverted to PTP today?
FlightAware > Air France (AF) #422 Flight Tracker
Anyone know why 422 is showing as diverted to PTP today? A little confused, but I suppose it could be knock-on of re-shuffling aircraft after the previous tech issue?
Anyone know why 422 is showing as diverted to PTP today? A little confused, but I suppose it could be knock-on of re-shuffling aircraft after the previous tech issue?
What you didn't know which the local Jocks did was that BEA had a history of running off the end at Edinburgh even with reverse thrust selected before touchdown.
Even more A@@@e clenching was Gibraltar whose runway ended with a sea wall and the Spanish had a warship moored on the approach path with apparent orders to shoot us down if we ventured into their airspace.
Now there was an applause after landing!
Even more A@@@e clenching was Gibraltar whose runway ended with a sea wall and the Spanish had a warship moored on the approach path with apparent orders to shoot us down if we ventured into their airspace.
Now there was an applause after landing!
Every, and I mean, every flight I've taken out of Glasgow to a Greek Island or Turkey has had the 'clapping on landing' thing.