AF 447 Wreckage
It had to happen and now we see the first move along the feeding chain of aviation litigation for the AF 447 tragedy.
lawyers want EUR1 billion as a starting point for AF447 – victims
The Air France crash on June 1 was the result of a preventable mix of human and technical failures, according to Stewarts Law, a UK law firm representing 50 of the victims’ families
Stewarts Law presented arguments in Paris this week after experts used a simulator to replicate the conditions experienced by the crew of the Airbus A330 in a storm off the coast of Brazil.
The firm wants Air France and Airbus to put the EUR1 billion into a pot to be divided among the families.
The hearing heard from John Mahon, an Airbus and Boeing training captain, that enough data was transmitted by satellite from the stricken plane to identify four factors that led to the crash:
– The aircraft flew into an area of storms which other aircraft avoided by steering around them.
– The Pitot tubes (speed sensors on the front of the plane) suffered faults.
– There was a malfunction in the ADIRU, the three air data computers that feed information to the flight system and the pilots.
– The pilots may not have had sufficient training to retain control of the malfunctioning aircraft.
“If any one of these issues had not happened to AF447, the accident would not have happened,” said Mahon, who is advising the law firm.
In a separate investigation in France, Air France and Airbus will be asked why no action was taken to replace faulty Pitot tubes on the A330 series although they had suffered multiple failures over a decade.
Meanwhile, the European Aviation Safety Agency has issued a new safety warning, telling airlines to check Airbus speed sensors from the US Goodrich company.
After AF447, airlines were advised to replace any French Thales Pitots with those from Goodrich.
Aviation Attorneys
From http://www.impactpub.com.au/aircargo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4446&Itemid=60