Air France Flight 447 was a passenger plane which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing everyone on board and the pilot’s tragic last words have been revealed
The world was left in shock after the catastrophic crash of Air France Flight 447, with the last moments of the pilot caught on the cockpit recording. On June 1, 2009, the passenger plane plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean while travelling from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, tragically claiming the lives of all 228 people aboard.
At 2:14 am, the plane descended at an alarming 10,912 feet per minute, hitting the water at a final nose angle of 16.2 degrees and a speed of 152 knots. Authorities managed to retrieve 154 bodies from the sunken remains of the fateful flight.
The final harrowing words of Pierre-Cédric Bonin, the 32-year-old pilot at the controls, have been made public following the discovery of the wreckage and cockpit recordings two years post-accident.
Bonin’s last words were: “[I] don’t have control of the aeroplane anymore now,” swiftly followed by the ominous, “I don’t have control of the aeroplane at all!”
These final utterances highlighted a grave issue within the aviation industry regarding ‘loss of control’ incidents that sparked worldwide concern.
Technical analysis revealed that transient icing had affected the plane’s speed sensors, leading to inconsistent airspeed readings.
Consequently, the flight computer disengaged the autopilot, leaving the pilots, Bonin and David Robert, struggling to manually control the suddenly unresponsive aircraft.
Bonin’s efforts to steady the plane and fix a minor roll triggered by the autopilot disconnecting led to Air France Flight 447 lurching violently left and right.
His overcorrection made the aircraft climb sharply, which then resulted in a catastrophic stall and a rapid descent, reports the Express.
The Air France Airbus A330 met a tragic fate, disappearing over the Atlantic amidst a brutal storm, claiming the lives of all on board.
Co-pilot Bonin, in a desperate bid to correct the course, pulled back on his control stick, but to no avail, as he cried out in disbelief, “We’re going to crash! This can’t be true. But what’s happening?”
The devastating event prompted significant reforms in the aviation industry, including improved pilot training programmes and more stringent rules for airspeed sensors, to prevent such a disaster from occurring again.
