Flight 447’s last terrifying minutes pieced together

DOOMED Air France Flight 447’s last terrifying few minutes in the air have already been pieced together by accident investigators.

Aviation sources in France said automated messages sent by the plane’s systems had allowed them to reconstruct events which appeared to show the Airbus broke up in mid-air as it flew through a hugely violent storm carrying 228 people.

The pilot sent a manual signal at 11pm local time saying he was flying through an area of CBs – electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that come with violent winds and lightning.

Satellite data has shown that towering thunderheads were sending 100mph updraft winds into the jet’s flight path at the time, several hundred kilometres off the coast of Brazil. Ten minutes later (0310 GMT), a cascade of problems began: automatic messages to Air France HQ indicate the autopilot had disengaged, a key computer system switched to alternative power, and controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged. An alarm sounded indicating the deterioration of flight systems.

Three minutes after that, more automatic messages reported the failure of systems to monitor air speed, altitude and direction. Control of the main flight computer and wing spoilers failed as well.

The last automatic message, at 11.14pm, signalled loss of cabin pressure and complete electrical failure – catastrophic events in a plane that was likely already plunging toward the ocean.

“This clearly looks like the story of the aeroplane coming apart,” the airline source said. “We just don’t know why it did, but that is what the investigation will show.”

The French accident investigation agency BEA refused to comment on the findings, as did Brazil’s defence minister Nelson Jobim who said the “investigation is being done by France; Brazil’s only responsibility is to find and pick up the pieces”.

Other experts agreed that the automatic reports of system failures on the flight from Rio to Paris strongly suggest it broke up in the air, perhaps due to fierce thunderstorms, turbulence, lightning or a catastrophic combination of events.

Meanwhile, yesterday a US surveillance plane, a French Awacs radar plane and two other French military planes joined Brazil’s Air Force in trying to spot debris and narrow the search zone.

Mr Jobim said debris discovered so far was spread over a wide area.

The floating debris includes a 23ft chunk of plane and a 19-long oil slick, Air Force spokesman Colonel Jorge Amaral said.

“Oil stains on the water might exclude the possibility of an explosion, because there was no fire,” Mr Jobim said.