{Photograph by Jacques Demarthon/AFP/Getty Images)From Popular Mechanics:
An Air France Airbus A330, carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, entered an area of strong turbulence and disappeared. The CEO of AirFrance confirms that the airplane most likely crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Some, including company officials, have speculated that the plane was struck down by lightning, a claim that is not at all outrageous. According to experts, most commercial aircraft are struck by lightning at some point in their lives. But can lightning down a plane? We spoke to the experts about the likelihood of lightning being the culprit in this tragic downing.
Aviation experts agree that it is highly unlikely that lightning alone caused the crash of Air France Flight 447 earlier today. The 2005 Airbus A330-200 twinjet with 228 aboard disappeared on a flight from Rio to Paris shortly after the aircraft sent out automated signals indicated it had suffered a catastrophic electrical failure and a sudden loss of cabin pressure while flying through an area of severe thunderstorms. Late this afternoon the Brazilian Air Force was reporting that the aircraft likely crashed in an area approximately 60 miles south of the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of Senegal. Air France spokesman Francois Brousse this morning stoked mounting speculation when he said "it is possible" the plane was hit by lightning.
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2 comments:
The debris from this mid-Atlantic disaster left a trail 5 km long. When a ship goes down and breaks up, it too will leave behind a long trail, as heavier parts sink first, with successively lighter parts scattered down current. (This was how Ballard found the Titanic, by following the debris trail.) If something happened in mid-air where the Air France Air-Bus broke up, then it too would leave such a trail, which most likely means it broke up at high altitude. What could cause such a fatal event? Lighting is suspected, but no possibility of foul play can be ignored, even if all cargo aboard was carefully screened... Alas, perhaps the flight recorder will find the reason, very sad.
A lightning should be discarded since an airplane that sofisticated is protected from such a happening. There could have been a maintenance failure that could have cause explosion (the plane had been in the air for some time already), an overheating situation of an electrical harness close to a fuel line, foul play, fuel explosion from unknown reasons. Explosion it was, no doubt, and at very high altitude, and it took seconds to destroy the aircraft. It is of great urgency to find 'black boxes' with recorded info to prevent other accidents, right away.
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