| SAFETY PILOT LANDMARK ACCIDENT | Historic loss of Air France 447 WHEN NOTHING MAKES SENSE THE LOSS OF AN AIRBUS A330—ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ADVANCED AIRCRAFT—OVER THE South Atlantic in cruise flight is akin to the sinking of the Titanic. These types of disasters aren’t supposed to happen. The state of the aeronautical art has progressed beyond such mishaps— or has it? This accident and the subsequent investigation qualify as historic, and there likely will be documentaries and movies recounting the tragedy in which 228 lives were lost. The recovery of the main body of wreckage and the flight data recorders, nearly two years after the accident, from ocean depths of nearly 13,000 feet, is remarkable. BY BRUCE LANDSBERG ILLUSTRATION BY NEASDEN CONTROL CENTRE SUMMARY > A330 encounters extreme temperature/ moisture environment at cruise and all three pitot tubes freeze up. > Automated systems disconnect and crew becomes confused by cascading failure warnings. > Crew is unable to interpret and pulls aircraft into a stall, descending from 38,000 feet to crash into the South Atlantic Ocean. www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 75http://www.aopa.org/pilot