Overlay: Infrared SAT Footage of the night flight AF 447 went missing

1 June 2009, 2:15 UTC Channel 09 (IR 10.8)

Kown positions of flight AF 447 (Airbus 330-203), have been superimposed onto the infrared photo.

Preview:

Source of SAT photo: AFP/spiegel.de

Edit: added the known ACARS positons transmitted by AF 447 to the kmz, and the nytimes published a complete transcript of the automated ACARS error messages (see below)

The A, B, C & D markers represent the various positions:

User waxxxNews added this info:

UN873
UTC(Coordinated Universal Time) W/P Lat Long True Mag NM GS(Groundspeed)

A: 0133 INTOL 1 21.7S 32 49.9W
027.9 045.7 182.2 540KTS

B: 0153 EPODE 1 19.4N 31 24.7W
027.9 045.7 62.7 540KTS

C: 0200 ORARO 2 14.8N 30 55.4W
022.3 040.1 86.4 300KTS

D: 0214 Final 3 34.7N 30 22.5W (exact moment the SAT infrared photo was shot!)

(Thnx waxxNews)!

Offical AF 447 Flight Plan:

Source: www.weathergraphics.com/tim/af447/


Edit: updated with complete ACARS transcript & open ALTER letter (see below)

Full transcript of ACARS error messages:

Source: nytimes

From eurocockpit.com:

direct link to image @ eurocockpit.com
eurocockpit.com article (french)
eurocockpit.com article (Google Translate: English (sucks, but better than nothing))


eurocockpit UNION's open letter to pilots/colleagues:

ALTER Advice

Vitry, 08 June 2009

Dear colleagues,
In the last minutes before the tragic disappearance of flight AF 447 in the morning hours on 1 June 2009, the A330-203 has made several automatic ACARS messages.
On 5 June, Airbus reminded Air France on PNT procedures provided "in case of doubt on anemometric indications". On this occasion, Air France said that a "campaign to replace the pitot tubes on new models is underway and that it "must (will?) be completed in the coming weeks". "
In a press release dated June 6, Air France said that "since May 2008 Air
France observed incidents of loss of anemometric information in flight
on A340 and A330. These events are analyzed with Airbus as a result of an icing of pitot tubes. "

ALTER observes:
- The automatic ACARS messages from flight AF 447 are either alarm type ("WRN" = Warning)
or failure reports ("FLR" = Fault Report);
- The first message "FLR" which appears (at 2:10 UTC) in the sequence
of messages is "34111506";
- This code "341115" is the code corresponding to the pitot ATA (06 being the cruising phase);
- The A330 pitot tubes were not modified;
- There is a real risk of losing control of an Airbus arising from the loss of anemometric information (failure of 2 or 3 pitot tubes) and an extremely heavy workload for the crew arises from this loss and its consequences;

ALTER regrets that, pending the replacement of all defective pitot tubes Air France management has not taken the decision to ground the Airbus A330 and A340 not yet equipped with new pitot tubes and whose replacement is NOT expected in the coming weeks. "
In order to avoid the reoccurrence of a catastophry, and pending the results of various open investigations ALTER invites the flight crews to observe the Unions following recommendation:

REFUSE ANY FLIGHT ON AN AIRBUS A330 / A340 THAT HAS NOT AT LEAST
2 MODIFIED PITOT TUBES
Source: eurocockpit open letter (pdf)





In Memoriam:
Air France A330-203 F-GZCP (AF 447 that night) @ Houston International Airport on October 19th 2008:

garretml @ flickr



Personal thoughts:
GS dropped to 300 knots @ UTC 0200, 14 minutes before the last ACARS transmission @ UTC 0214 went thru(no GS data transmitted during that last broadcast). This could be a sign that already @ that time something was horribly wrong if the plane didn't descend drastically. At cruising altitude pilots only have a small window of adjusting GS, +/- 50 knots, faster and the plane loses control, below that threshold and the plane loses control as well! If the Pilots descended considerably 14 minutes before last contact & slowed the plane down to 300 knots it could indicate a major problem...

If this data shows that the airspeed sensors were already displaying wrong GS this would mean that already 14 min before final contact Autopilot was disengaged @ cruising altitude & something happened resulting in a GS @ a critical level, resulting in a fatal loss of control and the break-up of the plane @ this high altitude...

15 June 2009: The more information comes in, the more the experts talk, the more i get the feeling this might be related to the Airbus A320 crash in New York, an American Airlines flight AA 587 to Santo Domingo, DR, back on 12 November 2001. That flight also lost it's tail section which was recovered in one piece... just like AA 447...





Photos of the wreckage displayed @ Fernando de Noronha, Brazil:








Military personnel with remains of AF 447 victim:





The Brazilian air force prepares to tow the tail section of the downed AF 447:



A French Navy diver from the Ventose frigate approaches floating debris in the search area of the Air France flight in the Atlantic:



Brazilian crews have been pulling debris from among the wreckage at the ocean site:


The French Navy ship Ventose at the site:



7 June 2009, a salvage team works to retrieve debris:



A Brazilian navy helicopter retrieves a piece of the wreckage:



Debris from the wreckage of Air France flight 447 retrieved off the coast of Brazil are displayed in this photograph taken on Sunday:



Source: latimes



Brazilian frigate Constituição unloading the tail section of AF 447:



Source: spiegel.de



Edit: 49 bodies have been found as of 15 June 2009




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