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Air France pilots could have saved Rio-Paris plane: BEA

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Brazilian Navy sailors pick up a piece of debris from Air France flight AF447 out of the Atlantic Ocean, June 8, 2009. REUTERS/Brazilian Air Force

Brazilian Navy sailors pick up a piece of debris from Air France flight AF447 out of the Atlantic Ocean, June 8, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Brazilian Air Force

PARIS | Fri Jul 29, 2011 4:05pm EDT

PARIS (Reuters) - The pilots at the helm of Air France flight AF447, which crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, could still have saved the situation after the jet lost its speed data, the head of France's BEA authority said on Friday.

"The situation was salvageable," Jean-Paul Troadec, director of the BEA air accident investigator, told reporters following the release of an updated report on the crash.

The Airbus 330 jet crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people on board.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Writing by Alexandria Sage)
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Comments (2)
abmagpie wrote:
What’s the problem within Air France? French pilots are as good as the best in the world, if not better. Yet Air France seems a distant amateur in comparison. The fatal flight (Brazil – France) is shocking that its pilot are so lacking in the science of flight…the whole airline should be grounded until Air France learns how to do it. The Toronto bound Air France flight skidded off the runway…that certainly was a revelation of the lack of pilot flight knowledge. The Air France flight that ended up in the trees during a demonstration low pass…big time pilot error. No one should book Air France unless they demonstrate they can fly safely. The whole executive branch of Air France and pilot department heads should be sacked.

Jul 29, 2011 11:33am EDT  --  Report as abuse
USArmy46Q wrote:
Have the investigators figured out what caused the crash? Even if they have a working hypothesis about the cause, shouldn’t they refrain from slandering the dead crew until an official report is released?

Jul 29, 2011 9:40pm EDT  --  Report as abuse
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