'F***, we're going to crash!' Air France flight 447 probe details scenes in cockpit before catastrophe
PARIS, FRANCE: Fourteen years after the tragic crash of the Air France flight into the ocean that claimed the lives of everyone aboard, the chilling final words of the pilot have been revealed. Flying to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, the doomed Flight 447, an Airbus 330 crashed into the surface of the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 which killed 228, including crew members and passengers from 32 countries.
Over the deaths of the passenger, Air France has not been found guilty of manslaughter. The pilots who were in control of the doomed cross-continental flight were Pierre-Cedric Bonin, 32, David Robert, 37, and Marc Dubois, 58, according to Mirror.
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Pilots fell asleep in the cockpit
Following the investigation into the crash, it was found that two of the pilots who were supposed to be piloting the aircraft fell asleep inside the cockpit. The haunting final talk among the three pilots was also recorded. The trio became fearful of the situation after the failure of a key part of the flight equipment. "F***, we're going to crash! It's not true! But what's happening?" said Robert.
After four hours and 15 minutes into the journey, the flight crashed into the surface of the sea. While superiors took a nap, Bonin, whose junior position made him the 'Company Baby' was made to take control of the aircraft. "With most of the weather still lying ahead and an anxious junior pilot at the controls, Dubois decided it was time to get some sleep," read the report.
Criticizing Dubois' actions, Alain Bouillard who led the probe into the crash said, "If the captain had stayed in position through the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, it would have delayed his sleep by no more than 15 minutes, and because of his experience, maybe the story would have ended differently."
"But I do not believe it was fatigue that caused him to leave. It was more like customary behavior, part of the piloting culture within Air France. And his leaving was not against the rules. Still, it is surprising. If you are responsible for the outcome, you do not go on vacation during the main event," he added.
Dubois and his attendant lover died on the flight
According to the report, Dubois' sleepiness seemed to be related to him being awake the night before the flight as he was with his lover, an opera singer and off-duty attendant who also died in the flight crash. "I didn't sleep enough last night. One hour - it's not enough," said Dubois.
It took two years for the key details to be revealed as the voice recorder of the aircraft was at the bottom of the sea and also the bodies. However, Air France maintained its innocence and eventually upgraded their training for pilots despite them denying their hired pilots were incompetent.
Among the victims were Boradway's 'Riverdance' star Dr Eithne Walls, 28 who was from Ballygowan, Co Down, and Alexander Bjoroy, an 11-year-old boarder from £5,970-a-term Clifton College in Bristol and spend half-term with his South America-based parents.