Algerian Plane missing, 24 July 2014

[BJsleuth]

The wreckage. It's bad.

I see from the photo that my question about helicopters' ability to land on sand has been answered.

https://mobile.twitter.com/HuffPostUKPics/status/492673766162722816/photo/1

Wow. That is bad. It's not ever recognisable as a plane.

 

[MsFacetious]

Wreckage of the jet was found in a "disintegrated state" in Mali, he said, making it the third major international aviation disaster in recent days.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/world/africa/air-algerie-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 

[ilovepierre]

Wow. That is bad. It's not ever recognisable as a plane.

So sad

 

[Meryl12]

Wreckage of the jet was found in a "disintegrated state" in Mali, he said, making it the third major international aviation disaster in recent days.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/25/world/africa/air-algerie-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

To be in such a disintegrated state the aircraft had to have come down at high speed, that it - it had to have hit the ground at high speed. If the pilot flew into a sand/dust storm he would become disoriented. I see they have the black boxes, that will provide information such as if they lost both engines. Sand/dust storm clog up engines, when the engines stop, the plane comes down out of the sky.!!

 

[jslk]

I have no idea about aviation, this is pure speculation, but could sand/dust mess with the instruments causing unreliable readings?


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[Meryl12]

I have no idea about aviation, this is pure speculation, but could sand/dust mess with the instruments causing unreliable readings?


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Yes, indirectly. Sand/dust storms clog up the jets, causing the jets to stop working. The instruments run from computers which receive the power to work from the jets. No jets - no computers - no instruments.
The sand/dust storms also mean the pilots cannot see out of their windscreen, all they see is the dust storm, this means they have no horizon to get their bearings from, they become disoriented. They no longer have "auto pilot", the aircraft's computers and "auto pilot" have the whole journey programmed.
When the engines stop, everything stops, and the pilot's cannot see anything either.

This is what happens http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1...ng-from-the-sky-all-engines-failed_shortfilms

This is a statement made by the flight captain of the above flight "ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. All four jets have failed, we are doing our best to restart them. We hope you are not too distressed".

http://elitedaily.com/news/world/br...test-flight-announcement-engines-failed-1982/

 

[momrids6]

First images emerge of Air Algerie crash site

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/air-al...-disintegrated-french-officials-say-1.2717718



http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/first-images-emerge-of/1283060.html

 

[Meryl12]

I have just read the above links and they read as though the airplane flew at speed into the ground. One link says " a large crater in the ground where it slammed into the desert", and "people expected to see an airplane sitting on the ground somewhere". It looks as though the aircraft flew vertically into the ground at speed and telescoped into just about nothing. Shocking!!!

 

[zwiebel]

It's only letting me see a tiny bit of the article in French, but the blackboxes have arrived in Paris. From the MH17 thread I know there are only two european centres with audio enhancing technology for blackbox recordings, and one is in France. The article states they hope things will proceed quickly now, but much depends on the work of the pathologists (or forensic investigators?) too.

*Note - I think they mean pathologists; they're using a really old term from when people were buried in lime and so people who prepared the bodies were called limers...

http://www.lefigaro.fr/internationa...-enqueteurs-font-parler-les-boites-noires.php

 

[zwiebel]

The British victim aboard the flight has been named as teacher David Morgan.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...cher-working-international-school-Zambia.html

President Francois Hollande:

'He confirmed that early indications were that poor weather was the most likely cause of the crash, but added he was not ruling out any other explanation. Two separate investigations were ongoing, he said.'

Flags are flying at half mast across France from today, and the President has stated a memorial to the victims will be built.

There is a French, Dutch and Malian UN force guarding the site and all victims will be repatriated to France, then to their families, as quickly as possible.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/27/air-algerie-crash-flags-france-francois-hollande

German experts will help in the identification of victims;

'Germany's BKA Federal Criminal Office said its two forensic experts would consult with French officials on identification. Among those killed were a German development aid worker and three members of her family who were on board.'

BBM
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius revealed on Monday at a Paris news conference that "the plane crew had asked to change route then to turn back before all contact was lost."

http://www.dw.de/germany-joins-probe-into-air-algerie-crash/a-17815890

 

[zwiebel]

The four German dead were a mother and her children, she was a development assistant on the way to a conference. I haven't seen any passengers named except the English one. I don't know if the passenger list has been released yet.

Article's in German.
http://www.dw.de/bka-experten-sollen-bei-identifizierung-der-absturzopfer-in-mali-helfen/a-17811830

 

[zwiebel]

Rémi Jouty, of Le Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses (BEA), says that data has been received from one blackbox, but the other has been damaged. The tape has been compressed, and it will have to be repaired.

He also says that reports that the pilot asked to turn back are only from very early, preliminary investigations. Investigators hope there will 'begin to be a scenario' of what happened, in a few weeks.

The BEA seems to be France's Health and Safety Council. I don't know if they are specifically Air Accident investigators, or if AA investigators make up part of the team.

http://www.rtl.fr/actu/societe-fait...un-scenario-dans-quelques-semaines-7773477592

Other news in France is that President Francoise Hollande has been criticized for becoming 'too involved' with the tragedy, (ordering flags at half mast, providing progress reports etc) so has now stepped back and isn't commenting to media, but leaving that to the Foreign Ministry instead.