Air France flight 447 aircraft accident animation

[@gfreshski]

One of the most heartbreaking parts of this animation is that at 8000 ft, Robert actually starts to get the angle of attack right and the nose down, then at 6000 ft, that as$hole Bonin pulls the nose up again. That was the last best opportunity to save that flight, and if Bonin would've just left the stick alone, they might have made it. Why the Captain didn't kick Bonin out of the chair as soon as he heard he was pulling back on the stick for the whole time is baffling. Just a terrible tragedy.

[@mpharator]

Everybody think its Bonin's fault but not. Bonin tries to keep the plane on balance. The real problem is engines they can not work enough plane cant gain speed.4:50 full gass nose down and not gain speed still wtf? At 3:40 u see how he effor keep the plane in correct position.Bonin is a good pilot Rip pilots and passangers. Bonin not guilty problem is engines.

[@Nemsesis3624]

It was already to late...

[@GYEREbeGYEREbe]

@@mpharator You are totally wrong. The aircraft stalled because of high nose.

[@NoName-gv6nm]

@@mpharator yeah just watched a documentary about this it was bonins fault. They needed to push the nose down to regain speed to get out of the stall. And he just kept trying to climb and climb when they were already stalled. Even someone who doesnt fly should understand the simple physics of his error.

[@chaffsalvo]

You are correct Bonin was inducing the problem. In his defense, he seemed to be confused that the stall warning went OFF with the nose up and AOA above 30 deg because the air data was bad. When he nosed over, the air data problem went away and the stall warning came on again. Instead of understanding and pushing through to more nose down and gain speed, he kept pulling back up. Roberts realized what Bonin was doing too late.

[@m1_919]

vertical speed 18.000 fpm and he is still pulling back...

[@mysterybruises3359]

Mike Ehrmantraut ikr? Who is this dude?

[@stevene.6430]

Crash was 100% pilot error....Very sad.

[@4tchilling956]

no crash was 80% pilot error 20% pitot reading error

[@stevene.6430]

@@4tchilling956 I'll give you that but pilots didn't know what to do when they froze up and even a novice pilot knows how to correct a stall.

[@johnrickard2020]

I’ve landed multiple times with no airspeed indications. When you lose speed, you fly with power and attitude. It was 100% pilot error.

[@stevem2323]

@@4tchilling956 Naaah, his reaction was the fault, 100 percent. And the speed measurements just one contributing factor, Bonin was tragically unqualified.

[@byronwelichko8577]

Never flown a plane in my life and my first thought was nose down full power.

[@mysterybruises3359]

Byron Welichko I’m a pilot and I’m yelling NOSE DOWN NOSE DOWN FFS UGGHHH

[@thedeathman97]

I agree

[@kl6379]

Full power nose down? Are you kidding me?

[@yiliangliang5694]

@@kl6379 for steal correction, yes.

[@lassechristensen6399]

K L yes.. always Trade alt. For speed..

[@johnm4541]

First rule of piloting; FLY THE DAMN PLANE. Get straight and level then fly the plane away from the storm.

[@phillipmckie4913]

When I learned to fly 25 years ago in a C 152 one of the things I learnt was how to get out of a stall. Even though you are flying a state of the art machine does not free you from old school basic stick and rudder flying. Pitch forward and power.Many of the alerts were garbage alerts that should have been ignored. The most important objective was to Fly the Airplane First.

[@ronwilliams357]

They don't do that in Europe. You get hired straight into an airliner and the emphasis is on managing the computer systems, which actually fly the plane in an Airbus.

[@angelarich8455]

I figured that if they were USA trained pilots this tragedy worked have been far less likely. The Junior pilots were not experienced enough. They really should have had 2 seniors and 1 junior pilot not the other way around. Senior in the cockpit at all times

[@juniormckie2462]

@@angelarich8455 I agree. I am thinking that seeing that the requirement for cruise ops normally just means baby sitting the autopilot normally there aren't normally many issues. Cathay Pacific for example trains there send officers just like a first officer so they take their cruise operations very seriously.

[@Incognito-vc9wj]

Full stick forward, full power, a few thousand feet and a little bit of patience and they'd be alive today. I can't fathom any excuse why the co pilot did what he did. I pilot small planes and it's damn near second nature to get that fucking nose down and get on the power when there's a deep stall condition like this. This guy clawing at the sky while he's obviously dropping like a rock....bewildering.

[@thomaswatvedt5812]

not that bewildering. He's in full panic.

[@angelarich8455]

Bewildering for a competently trained pilot! He said he was pulling back the WHOLE time ! No way ! Keep a level logical head until out of danger

[@tylerdowling]

@@angelarich8455 the inexperienced pilot clearly didn’t have the chops to pilot in “emergency” situations… especially ones self inflicted.

[@Bartonovich52]

Pitch + power = performance. Not once did the PF question the excessively high nose angle... hoping that Alpha Protect would would keep him out of the stall. The Captain should have recognized the buffeting, sluggish control response, and stall warning and done a full nose down recovery to get the plane flying again. A direct reading AoA indicator should be installed on these aircraft, like they are on many other jets.

[@lkkop]

Unbelievable how this guys were flying a 330 and stalled the aircraft...

[@MrDavid997]

Every pilot should know the characteristics of a stall. Buffeting Loss of roll control Loss of pitch control Inability to arrest descent And how to recover. REDUCE THE ANGLE OF ATTACK!

[@aurelien221]

And the f*cking alarm screaming STALL STALL!

[@sxrick]

Anyone who thinks those passengers had no idea anything was wrong just has to watch this. There was not one person on this flight that didn’t know something was seriously wrong. From the severe pitching and rolling -to the throttles being jammed full and back several times - to the sound of the turbulence hammering the fuselage ... would have been terrifying in that cabin. . I wonder if passengers could have watched the flight data screen on their monitors ( I often watch it during flights). Would it have shown their situational data??? R.I.P

[@louiseogrady9911]

I agree. They had to have known. Reminds me of my first flight. My husband said, if you're ever scared, look at the other passengers and if they're relaxed then you have nothing to worry about. Every little bump I felt, I looked at them. lol Then on my flight home, I was in a smaller plane and as we were speeding up to take off, the pilot slammed on the breaks. He informed us that all emergency lights came on and we had to circle around to take off again. I'm like WHAT!?

[@carolynmiles9281]

Why do so many airline pilots forget the basics of flying. Stall recovery, visual and control feedback, etc. Stall warning going off during nose high attitude? Guess what, you are in a stall. Add power , push forward on the controls and resume flying instead of falling. This guy is in a stall and pulls power back to idle and goes nose high. Huh? A couple of times, he goes to full power and starts to recover then back to power off nose high. Fly the plane, not the panel.

[@ronwilliams357]

That's not how it works in an Airbus, except in direct law mode. In cruise flight they're in normal law mode where the sidestick determines direction to go, not aircraft attitude. The computer would nose over in a stall situation in normal law, and had they been in normal law their inputs would have been correct. They likely didn't realize it had switched to direct law though because of the unreliable airspeed indicators.

[@pkpckls]

@@ronwilliams357 Hi sorry I know this comment was a long time ago, but - does this mean that when the airbus is in normal law, the pilot pulls the stick back to make the plane pitch down, and forwards to make it pitch up? Whereas in direct law, the usual back/up, forward/down rule applies? That seems like a really dangerous system if that's the case, because if you were disorientated at the point at which the plane switches from normal law to direct law - as these guys were - you might not actually know what movements to issue to the plane to control it

[@ronwilliams357]

@@pkpckls No, in normal law mode, the pilot controls the aircraft's vector (direction) that he wants it to go, and the computer determines the nose up or down and speed required to achieve it. Most of the time it corresponds with the nose direction, but for example on final approach below 1,000 feet the aircraft will be slightly nose high but descending. If the pilot pushes forward to make it descend more rapidly, the computer will likely reduce speed instead of pushing the nose forward. 99.9% of the time you fly in normal law and you simply get used to it. Direct law is intended only for extreme cases where the computer can't handle things, and the aircraft reverts to traditional control inputs that every pilot understands instinctively. It was intended for the pilot to have to manually switch to direct law so he would understand it is in the new mode. This was one of the extreme cases where the computer switched automatically and the pilots were too overwhelmed to notice. Yes, it can be dangerous as proven here.

[@MrDavidfarris]

@@pkpckls I didn’t understand “normal law” and “alternate1 law” either, I’ve done some research and found there is a third mode called “alternate2 law.” Normal law is in effect most of the time when the aircraft is proceeding and working as expected. Alternate1 law kicks in when the auto pilot can’t maintain course and speed, for whatever reason, input parameters, equipment malfunction, etc that requires the pilot’s attention to correct, but is not necessarily catastrophic. Some automation remains active, but the pilot must control and monitor one or two things to remain in flight on course. Alternate2 law is established if there are more serious issues such as multiple system failures or inconsistencies that must be corrected or compensated for that are outside the computers area of authority or ability to monitor, maintain or change. In which case the automation is pared back more or eliminated completely. Essentially, these modes are a graduated system that eliminates automation in phases, depending the severity and complexity of the issue or issues. It seems to be a good, safe system 99.999% of the time. The problem, in my opinion is that there should be a clear, audible, obvious indicator that displays what mode is in effect, so there is a better chance the pilot knows what level of his direct control is required. When things get tense, busy, and hectic because the auto pilot insist on human input/control it’s easy to miss the little light showing law mode.

[@LifebyDesign]

@@ronwilliams357 Thank you

[@erniehalter]

A sad reminder that stalls are caused by exceeding the critical angle of attack. Which means you can stall at full power with a nose down attitude such as in this case. As long as the angle of attack is high the aircraft will stall.

[@fabsbauer8221]

Arrogance kills.

[@jason.arthur.taylor]

Pay attention to the thrust levers. No thrust, no speed also = stall.

[@wanger0690]

It's just sad the standard plan of operation (training) for these side stick (Airbus) planes isn't; "Put your hands where I can see them!" for the guy NOT supposedly in command of the airplane and/or during an upset or abnormal situation. That way there is less than zero confusion about whom is in control of the control surfaces. When the guy in the left seat (actually the copilot, as I understand it, on this flight) finally took over, he couldn't tell the guy in the right seat was still pulling back almost the entire time...this even after he clearly stated he would take the plane. The noise must have been unbelievable!

[@simonegabrieli2810]

I have a simple question. At some point in this video simulation the 3 pitot tube de-icing. But why the speed indication in the left display still not displayed?

[@Brezonec]

Because the air flow comes from domn upwards when the plane falls, so, at this moment, there wasn't enought air pressure inside the pitot...no pressure = no value to display

[@simonegabrieli2810]

@@Brezonec thanks 👍

[@minkworks6143]

Can you direct me to the flight data you used to make this reconstruction? I would like to do a trajectory analysis of my own for a scientific publication!

[@Rafa1589]

So essentially all these poeple died because two co-pilots were not capable to get a plane out of a 4 minute stall starting at 37,500ft. Did I understand that right or am I missing something here?

[@johnrickard2020]

That’s basically right. I’ve been flying 22 years as my job. From the start of the loss of speed he pulls back hard. Their envelope is already pretty narrow at 35,000ft so, my first reaction was “what the fuck..” and I kept saying that until the plane crashes.... just.. what the fuck... that stall should have never happened. Even with no indication or improper ones. They didn’t recognize the fault and safety issues happening. All they had to do was maintain straight and level maybe slight descent. And don’t touch the power. But, nope. The f/o immediately panics. And they all died.

[@Rafa1589]

@@johnrickard2020 They said it was mainly because the unexpected switch to alternate law, where the plane doesn't prevent stall-inducing maneuvers. Would you agree with that? I feel like a common pilot should realise neverthelesse that they are mid-stall and that they should have intuitively know what to do...

[@johnrickard2020]

@@Rafa1589 They should know. Some very basic important fundamentals were missing from this or these pilots skills. Just like the pilot who drove the Atlas 767 into the water in Texas. This was a mistake that shouldn’t have even came close to happening. Sad.

[@morganstud]

mais si ils avaient été attentif, ils auraient vu que malgré les cristaux de glaces ... l'avion ne décrochait pas et que c'était seulement une erreur d'affichage ... malheureusement ils étaient fatigué (IL PARAIT à cause d'une fête la veille) et donc distraits ... bref des irresponsables qui ont tué + de 200 personnes et fait des endeuillés. Et puis d'ou tu cabres pour redresser un avion ... y'a pas d'excuses quand on transporte des centaines de vies ... bande de *.*.*

[@RobLascano]

A silly question maybe. why don't they use GPS speed when pitot tubes fail?

[@shi01]

GPS doesn't tell you your airspeed which is the crucial figure for flying. What GPS can tell you is your speed over ground. But if you face for instance 30 knots of headwind, the GPS will tell you fly with 180knots but the indicated air speed is 210 knots.

[@RobLascano]

Thank you very much!

[@robmausser]

GPS has a speed limit of about 200kmh so that people cant use it to make guided missiles.

[@may4092]

dont get me wrong, im not a pilot and not an expert. I still dont understand the nose up stick inputs after the autopilot disengaged prior to stall.

[@aurelien221]

He wanted to go the moon! More seriously, every "big plane" pilot knows that when instrumentation fails, you simply fly the plane with the same parameters as before the failure, same pitch & power.

[@rebeccamoon5766]

He was trying to slow the plane because he thought they were going too fast. The blocked pitot tubes caused a false overspeed warning. In reality, their speed hadn't increased, and the combination of increased AOA and falling airspeed led to the stall. Despite the constant "stall, stall" warning, the FO (who was flying) failed to recognize the plane's true situation because, in his own mind, he had already diagnosed the problem as overspeed and disregarded all evidence to the contrary. Throw in some poor communication between the crew and I don't think the FO even realized they were actually falling until it was already impossible to recover.

[@haradadanieru]

I am not a pilot, but... 2:16 Auto pilot turned off 3:00 Stall 3:40 The pilot loses control, go right, go left and start falling 5:50 Left stick and Right stick in opposite directions 5:58 Right stick stopped, for now you can see the plane the slowing the fall, but it is not high enough to gain speed again 6:30 Impact I dont know nothing about flying, but, I don't think that all right stick moves should be like this, agressive, or I don't understand why he had to go up when auto pilot turned off... I imagine... if I do these agressive moves in a high speed car, for sure I will lose control.

[@boringreels]

Everyone single pilot in the planet knows that when you VS indicators you don’t change throttle position or pub the noise up...

[@geraldcharbonier6313]

Le copilote peut être fier de lui ! Même sur flight simulator les simmers ne font pas cette erreur stupide : Cabrer quand l'avion décroche.

[@aurelien221]

C'est clair ! Effrayant que ces gens aient pû être nommés pilotes !

[@FSAUDIOGUY]

And this reiterates what an Airbus pilot friend of mine told me years ago: He said there was a systemic problem of too much reliance on flying with just computer screens and digital equipment. From what I can gather from the flight data and voice recordings they never looked away from the computer to evaluate what might be happening visually. I know it was dark...but still make an attempt to use your natural senses to make an assessment of what is causing your issue. Ice crystals on a peto tube were able to disengage the autopilot? FFS...Really? That small event essentially crashed that aircraft. That and the inexperience of the young pilots. I am hoping the FAA will take a hard look at that and take corrective measures. R.I.P. all passengers and crew.

[@aurelien221]

Yeah they were really bad pilots. A C172 pilot would have known. The plane also knew what was happening: "STALL STALL".

[@KaairoOFC]

Algum brasileiro? 🇧🇷

[@titikalagan3024]

So many specialists and skilled pilots comments here. They know everything about flying an airbus 330 , systems , and unreliable speed procedure,

[@aurelien221]

This is not about A330, this is about BASIC flying.

[@titikalagan3024]

@@aurelien221 its not basic flying here. You’re within stormy weather,turbulences , night IMC, instruments showing overspeed and intermittent stall warning. And they had no training for this situation and stall recover. That’s basic modesty .

[@aurelien221]

@@titikalagan3024 There will never be a training for each and every situation, this is why we have smart pilots in the cockpit. In this case, one does not need to be smart, I maintain that this is basic flying, and that the aircraft doesn't matter. When the STALL STALL siren screams, the first and immediate action of every pilot is to release the pressure on the stick, and gently push forward. It is a Pavlovian reflex. On top of that, good pilots have a problem resolution procedure like FORDEC: F - Facts (what is the problem) O - Options (hold, divert, immediate landing etc.) R - Risks/(Benefits sometimes included) (what is the downside of each option, what is the upside, i.e. a runway may be further away but is longer) D - Decide (which option) E - Execute (carry out selected option) C - Check (did everything work/go to plan, what else needs to be done)

[@titikalagan3024]

@@aurelien221 oui le fordec,je connais, j en fais souvent aussi, puisque apparemment on vole dans la même boite . On ne fait pas de fordec lors d’une manœuvre d urgence.. la question est pourquoi 3 professionnels expérimentés n’ont pas su comprendre dans quelle situation ils étaient. Comme dans 90% des accidents aériens où les pilotes sont responsables, afin de faire progresser la sécurité des vols. La solution n est pas dans les conseils des grands aviateurs , des spécialistes autoproclamés, ou d autres experts du pilotage.de flight simulator qui déclarent : « bah oui y avais qu’ a pousser sur le manche , C est tellement simple ! C est du basique. .Sont vraiment trop nuls , c est pas à moi que ça arriverait..lol.»

[@aurelien221]

@@titikalagan3024 Quand l'indication de vitesse est devenue HS, il n'y avait d'urgence, non ? On continue tranquillement le vol sans changer les paramètres de puissance etc jusqu'à trouver une solution. Quand on entend le CVR on voit bien qu'ils n'ont aucune méthode. Ils n'ont même pas commencé par se mettre d'accord sur quelle était la panne. Quand le capitaine arrive finalement dans le cockpit, le briefing de la situation est "on comprend rien, on sait pas ce qui se passe" Forcément le capitaine ne peut pas faire grand chose avec ces infos... Ils auraient dit "on est à 100 knots, perte vertigineuse d'altitude, en STALL, et je cabre l'avion depuis 2 minutes" à mon avis il aurait compris en deux secondes, et aurait calmé l'OPL avec son délire de survitesse injustifié C'est sûr qu'après y'a plus de temps pour du FORDEC :/

[@kl6379]

Nose down, level the wings, take control

[@aurelien221]

This so easy that the accident is infuriating.

[@martingreathurst2740]

Sadly, the pilots here quickly lost trust in the most basic 'power-attitude' rule and with autopilot disconnected and in turbulent conditions appeared to have got themselves suckered into chasing numbers, especially rampant VSI indications. These numbers being generated, as it transpired, by faulty/failed components. Frighteningly, not absolutely sure if I'd have done anything different. In a simulator, you pretty much know the program (in some airlines at least) and are therefore mentally prepared for an event like this, thus walk away feeling like God's gift to aviation and a super-hero for saving the jet.

[@fernandoferraz3527]

Would you put power off and full stick back when the plane tells u that he is stalling and ur pitch is like 10 degrees up? those pilots were morrons

[@tempname6632]

Wow - then pilots are idiots. In the smallest GA planes in America this is basic 101 stuff - no instruments needed. Seriously, you have a stall buffet, loss of control and you are pitched up 10 degrees dropping 10K FPM? ?!?! You are not sure you'd have done everything different. Every american pilot has done so many stall recoveries, including often real ones in many courses they are sick of them. From the time they first start flying a tiny little 2 seater. HOW do you get to fly an international widebody without these minimum skills, it makes no sense!

[@angelarich8455]

It makes absolutely no sense. Tragic

[@MrDavidfarris]

It enrages me that the co-pilot maintains the “stick back” position for so long. I’m not a pilot, but even I know that if you keep the stick back (nose up) position long enough, the plane will descend because it looses forward air speed required to maintain lift. At some point the nose must be lowered and the angle of attack reduced to allow the aircraft to regain speed and therefore reestablish lift. At altitude speed is your friend. Then to hand off control to another, then a few seconds later pull back onThe stick again and tell know one? If I were on the flight deck, I would’ve knocked him out of the right hand chair and told him not to touch the controls again. I know this would never happen, because I’d be denied flight deck access, especially on an international flight. But I’m just saying, how is it I know that and he didn’t. This so didn’t have to happen. I know the airspeed indicator was jammed, but come on! Put the nose on the horizon, open the throttles wide, and evaluate. How did that guy get into a major airline’s cockpit. Criminal ineptitude imho.

[@aurelien221]

"Criminal ineptitude" fully agree. Everybody try to excuse what's inexcusable. The co-pilot should never have been in this cockpit.

[@angelarich8455]

I’m in no way a pilot but I’ve flown and even my instinct would NOT have been to just pull back the entire time! What? He didn’t know how to fly at all? Other thought was Could there have been a gas coming in that impeded the brain and that’s why they all acted the way they did? They mentioned a smell which they thought was ozone but...?

[@jorge_781]

It looks like co-pilot Bonin had the control stick buried up in his sorry ass during all the emergency

[@Goldstone93]

Even I was thinking they need to point the nose down and I haven’t got a clue how to fly a plane!

[@grzegorzgk31]

Hi, I'm Pierre-Cédric Bonin and Welcome to Jackass

[@super-etendard]

should have GPS speed meter in parallel for kinda cases like this. btw, would he know why his plane got fallen?

[@johnrickard2020]

All aircraft with a GPS have a ground speed read out. I have a feeling they never looked at it.

[@sambennett4103]

Completely forgot their basic flying skills...tragic

[@TheFlyingExperience]

The throttles are set to TO Power - does that not help, I mean thats a LOT of power to recover from 35,000 plus, no?

[@marqfordeauto]

Flying-Experience no because the engines cause a pitch coupling due to the thrust line. So at full power the will make a nose up pitch. With the pilot already pulling back on the stick it further exacerbated the stall as the net effect was to make the aircraft go even further nose up. Also don't forget that the more nose up the aircraft goes, the more the flow is disrupted going into the engines and the less effective they'll become.

[@johnrickard2020]

Doesn’t matter what kind of power you have above 30,000ft. You start yanking back on the stick she’ll stall. Even with max power.

[@CallM3YourCat]

So sad, that was extremely simple to recover... Just one idiot pilot.. If there weren't sticks instead of yokees just like in Boeings. Or if there would be a competent skillful pilot on the right side

[@johnrickard2020]

Hard to watch. Just blatant inability to fly.

[@EnthusiasticCoder]

Don't know - but I feel they [the pilots] should have kept their cruise thrust setting [at least have an idea of what it was or should be] and maintain a 2 to 2.5 degree above horizon attitude ignoring the airspeed strip until they got near land. Shame really - it looks completely avoidable [the tragedy].

[@phillipmckie4913]

And it was avoidable. Many accidents occur due to Pilot distractions where they forfeit aircraft control for aircraft warnings.

[@aurelien221]

You are actually better than them! :/

[@michaelashcraft8569]

Do you mean to say professional Airline Pilots cannot fly a plane without instruments ?? Damn, I'll NEVER fly again!!

[@Flying_Snakes]

It is OK to punch your copilot in the face if they are trying to kill you.

[@АлександрП-е5с]

Вот где явное преимущество штурвала перед сайдстиком. Наглядно было бы видно, что творит этот идиот второй пилот. А сайдстик.. пилоты не ведают какой маневр совершает напарник, сваливая в океан исправный самолёт

[@tatianamusat8309]

Does anybody know in what programm is the simulation made? I would like to work on something similar and this is the most concludent. Thanks

[@annoyingguyoninternet1631]

tatiana biciin in title it says animation. If you want any try Infinite Flight

[@sybrik5605]

Why didn't the captain just take back control of aircraft when he came back in? If it was me I would take back the controls of the airplane. Sad tragedy that could've been avoided.

[@angelarich8455]

It may have been too late by then? Low altitude

[@onethree7931]

there is 3 professional pilot inside the cockpit. but what i can see neither one fix the pull nose up to down position to get a speed back.. still thinking...

[@LifebyDesign]

One professional one idiot and one amateur.

[@Jesfrr]

Non mais c'est à se demander à quoi pensais les pilote là-dedans ! 4 minutes sans penser qu'ils tombent comme des merdes.

[@aurelien221]

Tragique incompétence.

[@railyatra8879]

Bonin learned to fly at Jackass Flying school

[@AlonsoRules]

aviate navigate communicate

[@petergrundy8081]

Terrible flying

[@windows2000fanchannel]

FDR

[@esseel7896]

bonin the bonehead

[@windows2000fanchannel]

Plane crash