In June 2009, an Air France Airbus A330 disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean during a violent storm, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft was en route from Brazil to France when it crashed.
Pilot's Desperate Final Words
First officer Pierre-Cedric Bonin, 32, was heard saying: "I don't have control. I don't have control of the aeroplane at all!" Relief first officer David Robert, 37, instructed Bonin to shift the controls to the left before taking over. However, Bonin continued to grip his side-stick, causing their inputs to cancel each other out.
Captain Marc Dubois, 58, asked: "Er what are you [doing]?" Robert declared that they had lost "all control" of the aircraft and that every attempt to regain it had proved futile. Robert muttered to himself: "Climb, climb, climb, climb."
Confusion in the Cockpit
The captain cautioned: "Watch out, you are pulling up." Bonin responded: "But I've been at maximum nose-up for a while!" In a devastating moment, Dubois realised Bonin was causing the stall and screamed: "No no no, don't climb! No No No!" Bonin handed the controls to Robert, but the aircraft was too low to recover from the stall.
In a last-ditch effort, Bonin wrenched his side-stick back and swore, before screaming: "We're going to crash! This can't be true. But what's happening?" An eerie voice was heard saying: "F***, we're dead."
Investigation Findings
Technical malfunctions, treacherous weather conditions and pilot error were determined to be the cause of the disaster. Ice crystals had accumulated on the aircraft, causing the autopilot to disconnect mid-flight. Inaccurate airspeed readings left the pilots confused, and under enormous pressure, one made the catastrophic error of pulling the plane's nose upwards rather than downwards following the stall. Once the aircraft stalled, the pilots failed to respond appropriately, triggering a descent of 11,000ft per minute. The passengers would have had no idea of the pandemonium in the cockpit during the three-and-a-half minute plunge.
