France’s Bureau of Investigation and Analysis announced Friday that failed speed sensors played a part in the 2009 crash of Air France flight 447. The data recorders recovered earlier this month revealed the plane’s autopilot and auto-thrust functions disengaged before two separate stall warnings sounded off and the co-pilot discovered the plane was showing inaccurate speed readings.
The Airbus A330 then climbed to 38,000 feet before it stalled and began falling about 10,000 feet per minute. Flight 447 from Rid de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009 after a 3 minute and 30 second decent. All 216 passengers and 12 crew members were killed.
BEA director Jean-Paul Troadex said the bureau is “still trying to interpret” information on the data recorders. “Our role is not to assess blame, merely to determine the facts,” he said.
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