** Part of the wreckage of Air France 447
found on the floor of the Atlantic.**
Key Takeaways:
Air France 447 did not experience a "deep stall" in the technical sense, despite being in a deeply stalled state.
A deep stall is a specific aerodynamic condition, often associated with T-tailed aircraft, where the horizontal stabilizer is engulfed by the wing's wake, preventing pitch-down recovery via normal controls.
Flight 447 was in a prolonged conventional stall due to pilot misunderstanding and continued nose-up input, but the aircraft remained controllable and recoverable had the appropriate pitch-down actions been taken.
The release of preliminary flight data and cockpit voice recorder data from the miraculously recovered “black boxes” of Air France 447 opened the floodgates of press and online discussion. Amid all this chatter, the term “deep stall” often popped up.
Did Air France 447 experience a deep stall?
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Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.
