Pilot of Air France 447 was NOT in cockpit when disaster hit

[SoCalDem]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1389754/Air-France-pilot-NOT-cockpit-flight-crashed-Atlantic-2-years-ago.html

Pilot of Air France flight that crashed into Atlantic two years ago was NOT in cockpit when disaster hit, recovered black box reveals

By Allan Hall

Last updated at 2:45 PM on 23rd May 2011


Marc Dubois was not in the cockpit when Air France flight 447 ran into trouble

The pilot of the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean nearly two years ago was not in the cockpit when the plane ran into trouble. Leading German news magazine Der Spiegel quoted an expert who said captain Marc Dubois, 58, could be heard on the black box recordings rushing into the cockpit when the plane encountered bad weather. 'He gave both co-pilots instructions on how to save the plane,' the expert, who was not named, told the magazine.

Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, four hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 passengers and crew died.

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[FSogol]

1. Mile High Club?

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Dumb comment

Lots of good reasons he wasn't in the cockpit. I also note that both seats were occupied by competent, qualified pilots.

[av8rdave]

14. Extremely dumb comment

Long international flights on two pilot aircraft carry a relief pilot - a second copilot, to allow for rotating crew rest. Copilots in this situation are required to have a type rating on the aircraft (normally only required for the Captain) for this very reason. On any ocean crossing in this kind of aircraft, it is routine to have two copilots in the cockpit for some segment of the flight.

[snooper2]

2. Was she worth it?

:spank:

[Angry Dragon]

3. Perhaps just a piss break

or he might have just wanted to stretch his legs...........

[kentauros]

5. That was my thought as well.

It's unfortunate that people automatically think the worst, i.e., "mile high club" and so forth :eyes:

[originalpckelly]

4. It was the pitot tubes then.

It is thought that it wasn't just normal ice that clogged them, because they have heaters built into them to prevent that.

No, it was super-cooled water, water actually below 32*F, but so pure it doesn't have anything to form ice crystals around. When it hit the pitot tube, it instantly formed ice that itself was super cooled. This probably overwhelmed the system of heaters that usually protects the pitot tube.

[rsmith6621]

6. Maybe He Had To Use the Crapper...

....Yes your Captain $hits sometimes when he flys.

[cleanhippie]

7. Coincidence. Pilots have to leave the flight deck all the time.

And on longer flights, they take breaks and naps, which is why there were two other pilots in the seats.

[cordelia]

8. Crew rest.

[hedgehog]

9. One would assume that all the pilots are capable of flying the plane,

and that the titles "pilot" and "co-pilot" are meant to designate who is in charge.

Now, if all the pilots had been out of the cockpit simultaneously, then there might be a story here!

[cleanhippie]

10. Exactly. Its not as if they are rookies or pilots-in-training. They are ALL fully qualified.

[uppityperson]

12. Co-pilots were though. Glad they found the data recorders and can figure out what happened.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. How do you say, "Jesus, I can't leave for five minutes to take a cr--- OH MY GOD!"

in French?