Investigators Suspect Computers Doomed Air France Jet

DesScorp writes "Investigators working with the wreckage of Air France flight 447 believe the aircraft suffered cascading system failures with the on-board computers, eliminating the automation the aircraft needed to stay aloft. 'Relying on backup instruments, the Air France pilots apparently struggled to restart flight-management computers even as their plane may have begun breaking up from excessive speed,' reports the Wall Street Journal. Computer malfunctions may not be an isolated incident on the Airbus A330, as the NTSB is now investigating two other flights 'in which airspeed and altitude indications in the cockpits of Airbus A330 aircraft may have malfunctioned.'"

Moral of the story...

[Anonymous Coward]

...Don't trust Windows with your life.

Re:Moral of the story...

[Anonymous Coward]

And that's why I always go for the isle seat. :)

The revolution has started`

[Biswalt]

So the trains in DC collided because even while the human operator tried applying the breaks the computer overrode the engineer and kept the train moving at a good speed. And now the investigators of the air france flight are saying computer failures on that flight caused the plane to stay at a high-inoperable speed, despite the pilot's best effort to slow down? Does it sound to anyone else like the computer revolution from Terminator, the Matrix, nearly every other future sci-fi movie is taking place? We never should have let them start beating us in chess now the computers are getting all uppity.

Re:Short version:

[c6gunner]

I think you meant "flight computer" rather than autopilot. But yeah, I hear ya. Also, WAY too many drivers these days have problems operating their car when the throttle sensor craps out, the brake-lines bleed dry, and the steering wheel snaps off.

Now Fred Flinstone ... THERE was a REAL driver! Ah, how I long for the Good Old Days ....

Re:Suspect?....

[Anonymous Coward]

The actions of the computer? How did the computer make the problem worse?

Here's the chain of events in an A330:

1. Computer in control
2. Sensors fail
3. Computer: "sorry dudes, you're on your own"
4. Pilots in control
5. Pilots: "Fuck"

Here's the same for a B767:

1. Pilots in control
2. Sensors fail
3. Pilots: "Fuck"

Well duh!

[Joce640k]

How does this show that real A320s don't have five flight computers or that any one of them can fly the plane or that a crew would never be under the table trying to 'reboot' them?


"you can see the border of the simulator room projection screen outside of the cockpit"

Really? I thought it was the pilot *saying* it's a simulator that gave the game away.

Re:Suspect?....

[Fred_A]

>>Are you seriously suggesting that a person can judge speed 35000 ft over the ocean, at night in a storm by looking out the window?

Well, I might not know if it can be done in airplane, but I have a decent speed feeling when I'm driving, given I have multiple frames of reference. But I would think pilot's would have the same skills also.

Right. It's just the same thing really. That's why car analogies work so well after all.

And of course the pilots could have rolled down a window and stuck out a wet finger to judge the speed of the wind... But the thunderstorm made it too risky (wet finger you see ?).