Titanic of the Skies

Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330 serving the flight. They failed to recover the plane from the stall, and the plane crashed into the mid Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.

The BEA's final report, released at a press conference on 5 July 2012, concluded that the aircraft suffered temporary inconsistencies between the airspeed measurements—likely resulting from ice crystals obstructing the aircraft's pitot tubes—which caused the autopilot to disconnect. The crew reacted incorrectly to the abnormality, causing the aircraft to enter an aerodynamic stall which the pilots failed to correct.

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Such was the implausibility of the Air France 447 disaster it has led some to call it the 'Titanic of the Skies' (the 1937 Hindenburg Disaster has also been given this title). It started a debate on how modern airline companies have trained pilots to rely on automation, as it is theorized that more adequate training would've prevented the stall or at least they would've performed a successful stall recovery manoeuvre (note the captain was minutes into a scheduled rest break and most likely would've known how to react).

Air France and Airbus have been investigated for manslaughter since 2011. On 17 April 2023, Airbus and Air France were both acquitted of manslaughter. However, 10 days later, a French prosecutor lodged an appeal against the verdict.

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R.I.P to the 228 passengers and crew.