Summarize the events that lead to the Air France Flt. 447 accident.

Were there any Machine Factors that

caused this accident?

On May 31, 2009, AirFrance flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro Galeao airport at approximately 22:29
UTC and was headed for Paris Charles de Gaulle. The aircraft being flown was an Airbus A330-203 and
flight crew consisted of 3 pilots; one which was a relief pilot for the captain due to the long flight time.
Moreover, the pilot flying was the co-pilot. The aircraft had reached the cruising flight level of 350 just
after midnight UTC and the autopilot and auto-thrust were activated. At 01:50 UTC, the aircraft had
entered a convective area encountering light turbulence. During this time, the PF had concerns about
flying through the ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone) ahead and suggested flying at a higher flight
level, but the captain had not properly addressed this. At approximately 02:00 UTC, the captain had
switched with the relief pilot who was resting until now and left the cockpit after attending the briefing
between the pilot flying and the relief pilot who was the pilot not flying. At 2:10:04 UTC, the speed and
altitude readings became anomalous causing the autopilot and auto-throttle to disconnect. This had also
caused the aircraft to reconfigure to alternate law. The disconnection of the autopilot was signalled by a
cavalry charge warning that caused the PF to reflexively take manual control. During this time, the
aircraft had banked +8.4 degrees without any inputs which the PF countered by applying a large input to
the sidestick. Furthermore, the PF had continuously applied excessive nose-up inputs which had greatly
increase the angle of attack causing a short stall warning. This had also caused the aircraft to climb at a
rapid rate. During this, the PNF was going through the ECAM error messages none of which indicated
unreliable airspeed and thus the crew did not perform the “IAS detouse” procedure. However, the PNF
did notice the climb rate and asked the PF to descend and stabilize. This caused the PF to pitch down and
reduce engine thrust, but these were not enough to stabilize the flight path and the aircraft was still
climbing. The PNF had also called for the captain to return to the cockpit. At 02:10:51 UTC, another stall
warning had appeared which was sustained for 9 seconds and buffeting started. This caused the PF to set
the thrust setting to TOGA and
On May 31, 2009, Air France flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro Galeao airport at approximately
22:29 UTC and was headed for Paris Charles de Gaulle. The aircraft being flown was an Airbus A330-203
and flight crew consisted of 3 pilots; one which was a relief pilot for the captain due to the long flight
time. As the aircraft approached the ITCZ, it encountered some light turbulence. Moreover, icing of the
pitot tubes caused erroneous air data which lead to incorrect air speed information and the autopilot
and auto throttle disconnecting. In response to this, the PF had continuously applied excessive nose-up
inputs which had greatly increase the angle of attack causing a short stall warning. This had also caused
the aircraft to climb at a rapid rate. Moreover, the aircraft had automatically banked +8.4 degrees which
the PF was trying to control. The PNF was going through the ECAM error messages none of which
indicated unreliable airspeed and thus the crew did not perform the “IAS detouse” procedure. However,
the PNF did notice the climb rate and asked the PF to descend and stabilize to which the PF responded
by pitching down and reducing engine thrust, but they were not enough to stabilize the flight path.
Shortly after, buffeting and another prolonged stall warning had started, and the aircraft had gone above
its propulsion ceiling while rapidly reducing in speed. The PF responded to this by applying pitch-up
inputs and setting the thrust setting to TOGA. After reaching an altitude of 38,000 ft, the aircraft had
started rapidly descending. Shortly after, the PF had set the thrust setting to idle and applied pitch-down
inputs which caused the stall warning to start again but the aircraft was still rapidly descending. At
approximately 02:14 UTC, the aircraft had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 228 souls on board.