The disappearance of Air France 447 is shrouded in an air of mystery that sets it apart from other aircraft disasters.
The Airbus 330 has a remarkable safety record from the stand point of crashes. There was only one fatal incident in a test flight whereby 7 crew members died. However, it does not have an unmarred record. This incident occurred in 2002.
By SASHA NAGYGlobe and Mail Update
Robert Piché spoke calmly, systematically detailing the terrifying realization that the jetliner he was directing was heading out of the sky and into the dark ocean below.
The pilot of the Air Transat Airbus A330 spoke for the first time Tuesday after landing his aircraft on a tiny Azores landing strip last Friday with no fuel, no instruments and the lives of 300 people in his hands.
Mr. Piché said his training prepared him for the unthinkable — that his craft, Flight 236, was literally going to fall from the sky....
Robert Piché spoke calmly, systematically detailing the terrifying realization that the jetliner he was directing was heading out of the sky and into the dark ocean below.
The pilot of the Air Transat Airbus A330 spoke for the first time Tuesday after landing his aircraft on a tiny Azores landing strip last Friday with no fuel, no instruments and the lives of 300 people in his hands.
Mr. Piché said his training prepared him for the unthinkable — that his craft, Flight 236, was literally going to fall from the sky....
Sound right?
There are a lot of theories, including the possibility that it was a terrorist attack. There is 'speculation' that supports that theory as well. If I may at the expense of a lost airline and dead people.
I am sure the terrorist plot to hijack upto 10 airliners in 2006 is still fresh enough to remember.
On the night of Aug. 9, 2006, British authorities arrested 24 men and charged them with plotting to blow up as many as 10 trans-Atlantic flights, using explosive liquids that were to have been smuggled aboard the airliners in soda bottles.
The announcement led to an immediate ban on all carry-on liquids, creams and gels -- a measure that snarled air traffic worldwide at the height of the summer tourist season -- and an eventual change in security rules that limits travelers to only small amounts of such materials.
The case was quickly whittled down to eight defendants, amid widening public skepticism of the scale of the plot. The eight went on trial in London in April 2008, charged with conspiring to murder thousands of people by carrying out the attacks on passenger jets bound for North America.
On Sept. 9, 2008, the jury found three of the eight guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, but returned no verdict on the most serious charges, involving a conspiracy to blow up airliners....
The announcement led to an immediate ban on all carry-on liquids, creams and gels -- a measure that snarled air traffic worldwide at the height of the summer tourist season -- and an eventual change in security rules that limits travelers to only small amounts of such materials.
The case was quickly whittled down to eight defendants, amid widening public skepticism of the scale of the plot. The eight went on trial in London in April 2008, charged with conspiring to murder thousands of people by carrying out the attacks on passenger jets bound for North America.
On Sept. 9, 2008, the jury found three of the eight guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, but returned no verdict on the most serious charges, involving a conspiracy to blow up airliners....
And there is information that the Iranian President suddenly and without reason cancelled his highly anticipated trip to Brazil before the loss of the plane.
Iran’s Ahmadinejad Cancels Brazil Trip Indefinitely (Update2) (click here)
By Joshua Goodman and Ladane Nasseri
May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a trip to Brazil this week without explanation amid criticism at home from the country’s clerical leader and U.S. concern about Iran’s growing influence in Latin America.
The state visit of more than 100 officials and businessmen was set to begin tomorrow in Brasilia and focus on expanding the countries’ trade, which quadrupled to $2 billion in 2007 from 2002.
Ahmadinejad has been seeking allies among nations critical of U.S. policy in the conflict over U.S.-led efforts to shut down his nuclear program. Since coming to power in 2005, he has visited Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, the U.S.’s fiercest critic in the region, as well as allied governments in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua, where U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week Iran was building a “huge” embassy that undermines U.S. interests in the region.
The trip, including stops in Venezuela and Ecuador, was postponed indefinitely, Ahmadinejad’s office said in a statement, without saying why the plans changed. Roberto Jaguaribe, a political undersecretary at Brazil’s foreign ministry, told reporters in Brasilia it will be rescheduled for a date after Iran’s June 12 elections. Lula may visit Iran following an Ahmadinejad trip to Brasilia, he said....
There is speculation there was turbulent air and storms that inteferred with the flight plan of the pilot of Air France Flight 447. That is a possibility, but, from personal experience on Icelandic Air, when these pilots are flying into severe turbulence as found today in the upper troposphere they handle it well. The Icelandic Air pilots literally flew with the engines wide open through some of the most difficult air turbulence. The plane was fine and the flight unremarkable. People slept on the five hour flight.
From the description of the flight from whatever existing information there is, it sounds as though the AF 447 Airbus ran into operating problems no different than the flight interrupted in June of 2002. Taking into consideration this was a relatively new aircraft, it all seems fairly clear it had 'bugs' in its operating mechanisms that were never discovered and well concealed.
My deepest sympathies to the families of those lost in this aircraft anomaly. My sincere sadness for France. The people of France and their government are profoundly saddened by these incidents. If one remembers the Air France disaster with the SST? They grounded the fleet and ended the career of those airplanes. To France, the loss of one life is more than it can tolerate. (click here)
