** Part of the wreckage of Air France 447
found on the floor of the Atlantic.**
Key Takeaways:
The article clarifies that Air France 447 did not experience a "deep stall," a specific condition where a stalled wing's turbulent wake renders the horizontal stabilizer ineffective, preventing normal pitch-down recovery.
Instead, Flight 447 was in a conventional stalled glide, maintaining a high angle of attack due to the pilots continuously holding the nose up.
The aircraft was recoverable, but the pilots' lack of situational awareness amidst darkness, turbulence, and confusing warnings prevented them from recognizing and executing the necessary recovery actions.
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.
