BreakingDailyEuropeGeneralHotWorld

Air France plane crash: Irish doctors died due to pilot error

A French report has found that human error contributed to the 2009 crash of an Air France flight from Rio to Paris that killed 228 people – including three Irish doctors.

A source close to the case told AFP that the judicial report – due to be presented to victims’ families next week – has concluded that pilot error and malfunctioning speed sensors were responsible.

The three young Irish doctors were flying home from a holiday with friends when their plane went missing in a violent storm over the Atlantic.

The ill-fated Airbus A330 aircraft flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009 disappeared after it ran into stormy weather with strong turbulence around four hours into the flight.

The three friends were Jane Deasy (27), from Rathgar in Dublin, Aisling Butler (26), from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, and Eithne Walls, (28), a former Irish dancing star and member of the famous ‘Riverdance’ troupe from Ballygowan, Co Down.

They graduated together from the same class as doctors in surgery from Trinity College on June 15, 2007.

It took days before debris from the crash was located in the remote equatorial Atlantic Ocean area, and far longer until the wreckage was recovered.

The black boxes were finally located by robot submarines after a search spanning 23 months and costing about $40m.

A second report by the French aviation safety authority, BEA, is due to present its final report on the crash on Thursday. The paper is eagerly awaited amid a row between Airbus and Air France on who ultimately bears responsibility.

The source said the separate 356-page judicial report found that speed sensors froze up and failed, but also that the “captain had failed in his duties” and “prevented the co-pilot from reacting”.

The aircraft had entered a zone of turbulence two hours into the flight when the autopilot suddenly disengaged, the BEA had said earlier.

Investigators revealed last year that Captain Marc Dubois was on a break as his two less experienced co-pilots ignored and failed to discuss repeated stall warnings during the three and a half minutes it took the Airbus A330 to plunge into the ocean.

All 228 people on board – including crew – died after the Airbus hurtled into the Atlantic at a speed of 180 feet a second in the worst disaster in Air France’s history.

French magistrates are investigating Air France and Airbus for alleged manslaughter in connection with the crash, notably because of the malfunctioning speed sensors, known as Pitots.

The airline replaced the Pitots, manufactured by French company Thales, on its Airbus planes with a newer model after the crash.

Victims’ families have previously alleged that the involvement of big French corporations such as Airbus and Air France was influencing the affair.

[adrotate banner=”31″]

 

 

More

Related Articles

Bir yanıt yazın

Başa dön tuşu
Breaking News