Computer Failures Are Probed in Jet Crash

[babylonsister]

Computer Failures Are Probed in Jet Crash

By ANDY PASZTOR and DANIEL MICHAELS


Aviation investigators, running out of time to find the "black boxes" with key information on the crash of Air France Flight 447, suspect a rapid chain of computer and equipment malfunctions stripped the crew of automation today's pilots typically rely on to control a big jetliner.

An international team of experts is building a scenario in which it believes a cascade of system failures, seemingly beginning with malfunctioning airspeed sensors, rapidly progressed to what appeared to be sweeping computer outages, according to people familiar with the probe. The Airbus A330, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean during a storm 26 days ago, killing all 228 aboard.

Based on initial physical evidence and information from automatic maintenance messages sent by the aircraft, these people said, the plane bucked through heavy turbulence created by a thunderstorm without the full protection of its flight-control systems -- safeguards that experts say pilots now often take for granted.

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, according to theories developed by investigators.

The investigators stress it is too early to pinpoint specific causes. But whatever the eventual findings, the crash already is prompting questions about how thoroughly aviators are trained to cope with widespread computer glitches midflight.

more...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124605948270463623.html#mod=todays_us_page_one

[cloudbase]

1. Several years ago,

we had a gentleman give a safety talk at my flying club's monthly meeting. This guy teaches recovery from unusual attitudes, among other things. I recall him mentioning a potential problem on the Airbus ships, that because of a built-in g limiter the pilot wouldn't be able to make extraordinary control inputs should they be needed to get you out of a jam. He predicted that this would one day lead to a catastrophic event.

I'm not saying that is germane to this event, as it's possible that the plane was such an attitude that no amount of control input would have saved them, but it's something I wouldn't dismiss, either.