What happened to Air France Flight 447

PARIS – France's transportation minister said Friday that French forces have found no signs of the Airbus A330 airplane that vanished over the Atlantic and urged "extreme prudence" about suspected debris taken from the ocean.

Dominique Bussereau said he regretted that an announcement by Brazilian teams that they had recovered plane debris from Air France flight 447 turned out to be false.



The Brazilian air force announced Thursday afternoon that a helicopter plucked an airplane cargo pallet from the sea that came the Air France flight, but then said six hours later that it was not from the Airbus.

Link

Wonder where it came from? Did FedEx have one that just fell out the door at 37,000 feet? I don't think so. You have to assume it came off a ship where it was being used for something on the deck. Now pallets aren't cheap or light so how did it get off the ship. I don't see a ship's crew throwing it over and if it was on deck, even if not lashed down, you have to assume it had no cargo on it if it was light enough for rough weather to blow it off the deck. So yes, I wonder where it came from.

I also wonder why the following isn't getting any real play in the press, although after a bunch of politicians get done trying, vainly in my estimation in Obamie's case, to pay respect to those who died on the 6/6/44 landing in Europe, it may get some discussion.

However, both pilots of an Air Comet flight from Lima, Peru, to Lisbon, Portugal, sent a written report on the bright flash they said they saw to Air France, Airbus and the Spanish civil aviation authority, the airline told CNN.

"Suddenly, we saw in the distance a strong and intense flash of white light, which followed a descending and vertical trajectory and which broke up in six seconds," the captain wrote.

Air Comet declined to identify the pilot's name but said he waited until landing to inform Air Comet management about what he saw. Air Comet then informed Spanish civil aviation authorities. The Air Comet co-pilot and a passenger aboard the same flight also saw the light.

And then we have this:

The aircraft's computer system did send about four minutes of automated messages indicating a loss of cabin pressure and an electrical failure, officials have said.

CNN Link

Ah, reporters and bureaucrats. You have to love their inability to write about technical things. Let me explain. If your coffee pot shorts out and kicks the circuit breaker for the kitchen's wall plugs, you have an electrical failure.
If the main circuit breakers kick and you lose power to the house, you have an electrical failure. The first is an aggravation. The second is a major problem.

So, loss of electrical power and loss of cabin pressure, intense white light observed followed by a descending (falling) trajectory (of the light) for about six seconds before it broke up (went out). And now this is added:

PARIS, France (CNN) -- Air France Flight 447 sent out 24 automated error messages -- including one saying the aircraft's autopilot had disengaged -- before it vanished with 228 people on board, aviation investigators said Saturday.

CNN Link1

Through this you have to assume that the error messages being sent for four minutes mean that the aircraft batteries were functioning and that the aircraft was, at least somewhat, structurally sound.

You also have to assume that the autopilot message means that it disengaged in error because the messages are called "error" messages. i.e. It wouldn't send a message if the flight crew disengaged it. That wouldn't have been seen as an error. That invalidates the arguments I have seen on the Internet about if the pilot should have. He didn't. It also calls into question the NY Post article referenced later in this post. I repeat. A pilot turning off the autopilot would not be seen as an error and wouldn't be reported in an error message.

So within four minutes we know that the auto pilot disengaged, electric power generation was lost and the cabin lost pressure. And we don't know in what order. But that very plainly argues for partial structural failure, loss of electrical power generation, of autopilot and major (complete?) structural failure that wiped out the batteries.

What else do we know?

At 11 p.m. (10 p.m. EDT), pilot Marc Dubois sent a manual signal saying he was flying through an area of "CBs" -- black, electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that carry violent winds and lightning.

Satellite data show that the thunderheads -- towering up to 50,000 feet -- were sending 100 mph updrafts into the jet's flight path.

"Such an updraft would lead to severe turbulence for any aircraft," AccuWeather said.

"In addition, the storms were towering up to 50,000 feet and would have been producing lightning. The Air France plane would have encountered these stormy conditions, which could have resulted in either some structural failure or electrical failure."

NYPost link

So we know that the aircraft was flying in some nasty weather. How long it had been prior to the radio message I don't know. But we know that it had been for ten minutes before the first error message was sent.

At 11:10 p.m., a cascade of horrific problems began.

Automatic messages relayed by the jetliner indicate the autopilot had disengaged, suggesting Dubois and his two co-pilots were trying to thread their way through the dangerous clouds manually.

Again, no. Turning off the autopilot by the pilot would not generate an error message. Failure of it would.

A key computer system had switched to alternative power and controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged.

An alarm sounded, indicating the deterioration of flight systems.

Again some poor writing. The message might say an alarm was activated, but it wasn't heard by the computer message. And was the alternative power the aircraft batteries? And was the computer battery driven or from an external DC/AC Inverter?

At 11:13 p.m., more automatic messages reported the failure of systems to monitor air speed, altitude and direction. Control of the main flight computer and wing spoilers also failed.

The last automatic message, at 11:14 p.m., indicated complete electrical failure and a massive loss of cabin pressure -- catastrophic events, indicating that the plane was breaking apart and plunging toward the ocean.

Ten minutes is an awfully long time in an aviation emergency. All of this happening and the crew didn't yell Mayday? And there were three pilots on board. Or one pilot and two co-pilots. (I don't think the 330 has a Flight Engineer position. Could be wrong.)So I assume one is provided as a relief.

Four minutes is not very long in an aviation emergency if the aircraft is all over the sky and starting to break up.

Flying has been defined as hours and hours of sheer boredom followed by minutes of stark terror.

Did the pilot fly into a thunderstorm as violent as has been described? Hard to imagine. The crew was experienced, the 330 has lots of electronics and the area was well known to produce violent weather. While it is possible to get "boxed in" by bad weather, an experienced crew would not have let that happen. It would be interesting to see the thunderstorm (squall) line. Typically in the US weather moves west to east with squall lines basically north-south. As the poem goes:

There are old pilots and bold pilots
But very few old bold pilots.

So again I think the crew would have avoided any really bad stuff.

So what happened? Remember the Air Comet crew?

"Suddenly, we saw in the distance a strong and intense flash of white light, which followed a descending and vertical trajectory and which broke up in six seconds," the captain wrote.

So the A330 broke up a bit, caught fire and then burned itself out in about six seconds in an explosion seen as intense white light.

Interesting. But first we know that an object flying forward at around 400 knots will not drop vertically. It will continue to go forward, and slant down. (An object at rest will remain at rest, etc., etc.)

When jet fuel explodes/burns it does so in orange.

I had previously posted this:

Two passengers with names linked to Islamic terrorism were on the Air France flight which crashed with the loss of 228 lives, it has emerged.

French secret servicemen established the connection while working through the list of those who boarded the doomed Airbus in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 31.

Just a coincidence I'm sure.

In the meantime, what has happened to this story?

However, both pilots of an Air Comet flight from Lima, Peru, to Lisbon, Portugal, sent a written report on the bright flash they said they saw to Air France, Airbus and the Spanish civil aviation authority, the airline told CNN.

"Suddenly, we saw in the distance a strong and intense flash of white light, which followed a descending and vertical trajectory and which broke up in six seconds," the captain wrote.

Just a coincidence I'm sure.

African immigrant complains about flag location??

Debbie McLucas comes from a patriotic family – her husband and both of her sons served in the U.S. military, and her daughter is currently deployed to Iraq on her second tour of duty as a combat medic.

So when McLucas arrived at work at a Texas hospital last Friday, she was stunned to be told that the Stars and Stripes she had hung in her office in advance of Memorial Day were offensive, and that the flag had been removed.

I got into work, I was met by my supervisor and told that there had been multiple complaints, that people found the flag very offensive and it had been taken down," McLucas told FOXNews.com.

"I went to the office to retrieve it and found the flag wrapped around the pole, sitting in the corner on the ground. I was speechless."

McLucas, a supervisor at Kindred Hospital in Mansfield, Texas, had displayed the 3-by-5-foot flag in the office she shares with the hospital’s three other supervisors. McLucas said one of her colleagues, a woman who immigrated to the United States from Africa 14 years ago, complained about the flag to upper management, and the hospital decided to take down the flag.

Let us stop right here, shall we?

Would someone please interview this African immigrant and ask her:

If the US flag offends you, why are you here? You didn’t have to come. In fact, you’re coming has helped only you. The country was fine without you and will be fine if you returned to a country with a flag that doesn’t bother you.

A Kindred Healthcare spokeswoman did not return calls for comment. Kindred issued a press release stating, “Kindred Hospital Mansfield has a great deal of appreciation for the service that many of our employees and their families have given to their country. We honor our veterans and active military through a variety of benefits and service programs. This was an isolated incident between two employees that we are working to resolve amicably.”

The statement went on to explain: “The disagreement was over the size of the flag and not what it symbolized. We have invited the employee to put the flag back up.”

Sounds like everything is just peachy, except why was the flag taken down? Who moved it? After all, Debbie McLucas said, “that people found the flag very offensive” That doesn’t square with, “The disagreement was over the size of the flag and not what it symbolized.”

And where was all this appreciation?

Would someone please interview the hospital upper management and ask them:

Is it your policy to fold like a cheap suit every time someone makes an outlandish complaint? Didn’t any of you have the nerve to tell the African immigrant that if she had a problem with a US flag in her office she could have her last pay check mailed to her home? Folks, you are managers. You are supposed to stand for something. You are supposed to lead. If you can’t, then I suggest you find a job that won’t require you to make decisions and stand up for something.

Maybe you could work as Travel Agents and help the African immigrant find a country whose flag doesn’t offend.

I mean, who does this African immigrant think she is, our President?

FNC link

Bits and pieces

Yeah, but can he jump on his camel and ride????

Next...........

In the two weeks since Newsweek has redesigned, the magazine’s editors have sent out a statement that they intend to sever any and all connection to the turgid, dusty newsweekly of yore. And Jon Meacham, the magazine’s editor, is trying to recapture that age-old magazine editor’s trick for his newly conceived book: buzz.

For the next issue that hits newsstands on June 8, Comedy Central funnyman Stephen Colbert will be Newsweek’s guest editor, The Observer has learned.
“I was just very impressed with the range of his knowledge and he had an almost encyclopedic feel for anything that came up,” said Mr. Meacham.

Link

Like most Lefties, this pair knows everything and understand nothing.

Next......

Oh! The humanity of it all!

Angelina Jolie has been named the most powerful celebrity in the world, forcing Oprah Winfrey off the top spot and into second.

Link

I thought I felt the earth move.

Next....

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez said on Tuesday that he and Cuban ally Fidel Castro risk being more conservative than U.S. President Barack Obama as Washington prepares to take control of General Motors Corp.

Link

You know, Hugo has a point!

Next....

VATICAN CITY (AP) - A Vatican official is lamenting that many faithful no longer confess their sins, and says some confuse a psychologist's couch for a confessional booth.
Archbishop Mauro Piacenza has told Vatican Radio the sacrament of penance has been experiencing a "deep crisis" for decades. Piacenza, an official for the Vatican office on clergy, says fewer people distinguish between good and evil, and as a result don't go to confession.

Link

On the other hand, maybe people have just been being good??

Next....

Shane Kadidal, who meets with detainees as an attorney with the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, said expectations for dramatic change have ebbed. He said prisoners know that only two prisoners have been released since Obama took office, compared with more than 500 under the administration of former President George W. Bush.

"They're saying, 'At least Bush sent some people home,'" he said.

Link

Hey look, he’s been a disappointment to us, too.

Next....

No good deed goes unpunished!

SANDUSKY, Ohio -An Ohio man arrested for mowing unkempt grass at a public park said he just wanted to make his city look nice. John Hamilton said he took control of the situation because the grass in Sandusky's Central Park was about a foot high. According to a police report, a witness said Hamilton was blowing grass onto the sidewalk and shredding trash in the park that had not been picked up.

Police said they arrested 48-year-old Hamilton after he refused to stop mowing and charged him with obstructing official business and disorderly conduct.

Now if he had ony relieved himself against a tree, pulled a grocery cart personal transport device through some flower beds and muttered dark curses against unseen foes nothing would have happened.

In the meantime Sandusky has assumed top position on my "Places I will never visit" list, replacing Paris. And I thought that would never happen.

Link

Obama marginalizes us

For a long time I thought Obamie was just another socialist, educated but ignorant about the real world. His stupid remarks... 57states.... didn't know what the Reverend was saying, etc., have been ignored by the Lame Stream Media, as was his pissing away $45,000 of my money taking his wife out to dinner.... Look Obamie, if you don't like dining at the White House, resign and let Biden take over..... But now he takes it further...

What I want to do is to create a better dialogue so that the Muslim world understands more effectively how the United States but also how the West thinks about many of these difficult issues like terrorism, like democracy, to discuss the framework for what's happened in Iraq and Afghanistan and our outreach to Iran, and also how we view the prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Now, the flip side is I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. And so there's got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples.

Link

Uh, Obamie...can we talk?? I mean can you tell me why we need a better dialogue with the Muslim world?? It appears to me that they don't give a flip about what we think and we, or at least the intelligent ones, have figured out that the typical Muslim doesn't give a flip about what we think.

Why should he?? We have elected a President who is busy saying that we won't demand anything of the Muslim world. That pretty well marginalizes us, eh??

Brian Williamns of NBC News bows to Obama

Click here to see Brian Williams of NBC bowing to Obamnie.

This video clearly shows the mindset of Williams. If he worked for me as a news person I would fire him on the spot for "actions unbecoming" and "bring disdain and damage to NBC News."

OK, OK. I know that you can't the Lame Stream Media's reputation. And maybe it was a huge tingle running up his leg that caused the head drop.

Anybody want to make a bet on how long it will be before You Tube jerks the video?

I don't know whether to laugh, cry or puke.

Hat tip to Buffy at Tennessee FreeForum.

UFO spotted near Houston.

Liberty County Sheriff’s officials are expected to meet with the FAA on Tuesday to discuss what a Continental Express pilot reported as a “missile or rocket” flying near his airplane.

A pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that at about 8:15 p.m. Friday, an object passed within 150 feet beneath the aircraft, sheriff’s officials said.

The aircraft was near the southern edge of the county, flying at about 13,000 feet, officials said.

“The pilot, from what we understand, was former military. He was able to get the coordinates down real quick,” said Cpl. Hugh Bishop with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff’s deputies searched Friday night for signs of evidence where a missile might have been launched or landed.

“We couldn’t find anything,” Bishop said.

This doesn't compute. First of all I do not know the max altitude of the various shoulder mounted Surface to Air Missiles (SAM). But I would guess that it is around 10,000 feet. Secondly, they are heat seeking, which means the missile is tracking behind the target. If it had enough range to be falling below and forward of the target then it had enough range to hit the target. Since it did not, the missile would have fallen below and behind the aircraft and not in sight of the pilot.

Little Green Men looking for Little Green Women?

Link

Link

Link