Air Algerie loses contact with its plane leaving Ouagadougou

[Chronus]

Was the wheather a factor. Quite possibly it was. For Southern Air flight 242 it most certainly was. It flew into heavy wheather, got peppered with golf ball sized hail stones, suffered compressor stall, the crew in compliance to ATC instructions increased power initiatiating a climb to a higher level and in doing so lost both engines for good. They managed to get out of the wheather but were unsuccessful in their attempts to dead stick it onto a highway. The aircraft was a DC9 and as we all know the MD83 is a second generation DC9. So could this scenario or something similar been replayed in this instance is the question.

[JonnyH]

I think you mean weather.

But weather is the most likely cause or factor of this incident. But best to reserve judgement until they've listened to the CVR.

[ATC Watcher]

Salut Porco, longtemps .

Good news : BEA confirmed they have successfully downloaded FDR and will be able to read CVR.
So a few more days to wait .
On the radar image, Niamey has a radar and monitor Ouga departures, but the accident itself occurred outside its radar coverage.

[ironbutt57]

Whether weather or not..one thing always surprised me was some crew members lack of weather radar fundamentals and limitations..particularly attenuation and radar shadows, which was the key reason for the loss of Southern Airways 242.

[AlphaZuluRomeo]

Originally Posted by ATC Watcher

Good news : BEA confirmed they have successfully downloaded FDR and will be able to read CVR.

AFAIK, BEA published they were working on the CVR"in order to extract data from it". I understand there is no guarantee at this time. "Only" a good hope.

[ItsMeFromEarth]

Then they will have to translate from spanish to French and English

[viking28]

Stall or loss of control in a CB ?

Hi again,

For the french reading members here is what is published in "Le Figaro" to day:
Crash Air Algérie : l'avion aurait chuté de 10.000 mètres en 3 minutes

This would suggest a control loss in a CB while turning to avoid it and a little experienced crew on this very route.
All this followed by a 30.000 feet loss of altitude in 3 minutes..

Let's wait for the NTSB's report (BEA).

[andrasz]

here is what is published in "Le Figaro" to day

Reading the French original, it is pure speculation, not based on any FDR data. The 'three minutes' is based on the time between loss on transponder contact and the crash time as reported by a ground witness (based I'm sure on his certified $1.5 Chinese wrist chronometer, as recalled three days later...), so it must be accurate.

[Nemrytter]

Worth pointing out that the crash site is quite a bit beyond where the CBs were at that time - they were in the CB outflow, not the CB. There was nothing to 'turn into'.

[threemiles]

The airplane was not as high as 10000 meters, so it could not lose 10000 metes in 3 minutes.

[BigFrank]

Speed of descent of plane

On France24 tv either this morning or yesterday evening I saw 2 Malian military officers commenting on radar images, visible on screen, and stressing the very high speed of descent.

[ironbutt57]

Crew requested to return, or crew advised they were returning..

[henra]

Originally Posted by glendalegoon

the turbulence penetration speed is 285 kias

turbulent air penetration 285 knots or .76

it is not that close to a stall and certainly ground speed is not airspeed indicated

The Problem is that the Radar Returns will be Ground Speed. And a Ground Speed of 280kts is close to or rather is a stall at 31kft (~170kts IAS), depending on exact weight.

[DaveReidUK]

And a Ground Speed of 280kts is close to or rather is a stall at 31kft (~170kts IAS), depending on exact weight.

Assuming still air ...

[glendalegoon]

excuse me, how is a 115 knot margin ABOVE the stall not much?

now, of course radar shows ground speed which is true airspeed (or mach) and wind adjustment

but still...turbulence penetration speed is a nice area to be, its above the stall, below the high speed buffet etc.

but again...if we compensate we might find the plane doing a different airspeed.

so, how many of YOU WOULD NOT FLY AT TURBULENCE PENETRATION SPEED? at least in this situation?

[threemiles]

I suggest you go back to school

[Klauss]

did anyone see the radar-track of the flight from beginning to it´s sad end ?
I only saw the beginning , until climbing out of 140, and the last seconds
at 310. Would be very interesting to see it and get an idea what weather
they went through.

[Squawk_ident]

Various informations and links

Rémy Jouty, Chairman of the BEA was interviewed by the French radio Europe1 on the 29JUL. Sorry to be late.

Europe1.fr - L'interview de Jean-Pierre Elkabbach

Nothing interesting except what is related to the "black boxes"
Mr Jouty:
..black boxes received yesterday morning...[28JUL]... no difficulties to extract the [FDR] parameters. Works on the [CVR] is still in progress because it's more damaged.
Mr Jouty explained after what is a FDR.
To the question "when a first scenario might be possible [according to the post treatment of the [FDR] Jouty said it should be rather quick except if an abnormality is discovered on some sensors.
The CVR.
The recorder is a magnetic tape. Very strongly compressed at the crash impact.
The final envelope (coat) has relatively well resisted. The band has been damaged a little. It is wrinkled at some places or cut. I hope it may takes some days [to be readable] or may be longer if a deeper analyse is needed.
I'm reasonably optimistic.
.../...

About the radar video, a longer one is visible here:

Vidéo Vol AH5017 : les images radars de l'avion qui disparaît - MYTF1News - Actu / Buzz

It shown an extra leg while the aircraft is crossing 170 South of ARBUT.

[Klauss]

Thanks for this link.

Don´t know - only the investigators know - but if you take the
Airport and the last climb-out Position (FL 175) and the first FL 310 Position
that follows it, it´s a +/- straight line. Given how a large storm Shows up on
aircraft Radar, a larger avoiding-turn to the west would have been expected.

Don´t think that the storm was shown correctly on radar.
Maybe Equipment-Problem, maybe something else.

Any other ideas ?

[Squawk_ident]

Media briefing 7AUG

Accident to the McDonnell Douglas MD-83, registered EC-LTV, on 24 July 2014 in the region of Gao (Mali)

The "media event" will take place between 1400 and 1445 (not 1500 because BEA.aero is busy working). This is 12z to 1245z.
Normally this press briefing should be live covered by French TV " iTélé" and "BFM TV"

Le direct ? i>TELE

BFMTV en Direct: regarder la chaine info en live - BFMTV