Germanwings A320 crashed in France :(

[AlexIT]

tvrolet said:

http://www.pprune.org/rumours-news/558483-iced-aoa...

Seems a possible description as to what happened here as well, but you would imagine that faulty sensors would have been replaced in 7 years...

[essayer]

So by my maths that's about 3000fpm descent rate for 10 mins?

[Hugo a Gogo]

seems odd, several minutes of rapid descent, but still heading in a straight line towards the alps

[Asterix]

essayer said:

So by my maths that's about 3000fpm descent rate for 10 mins?

The above graph would concur - maybe a little less time.

Still - around ten minutes longer than I'd to be in that position

[Asterix]

Any idea of the glide ratio of this aircraft?

Edit: Google throws up around 16:1 to 20:1

Which means that this wasn't a 'simple' engine failure.

Edited by Asterix on Tuesday 24th March 11:32

[Grumfutock]

Asterix said:

Any idea of the glide rate of this aircraft?

About the same as a streamlined anvil!

[sneijder]

I can't see that graph too well on mobile, but it would seem it's descending faster than it can glide ?

That could mean lots of things of course.

Hope for quick answers to those who need them.

[matt1269]

Hugo a Gogo said:

seems odd, several minutes of rapid descent, but still heading in a straight line towards the alps

What would you do then? Turn around and fly towards a city?

[Hugo a Gogo]

matt1269 said:

What would you do then? Turn around and fly towards a city?

towards a city, no. lower altitude, yes, to maybe give you more time to sort it out

[Starfighter]

Depressurised?
Drop the nose and head for 10,000 feet. I would have thought the decent rate would have bean steeper for an emergency decent.
The graph and data table show a relatively stready airspeed from hitting the cruise at 38000.

[cptsideways]

All the more concerning when the data is readily available like it is. Why no turning? How rapid is that rate of decent in terms of getting down as quick as one might do on purpose? maybe cabin pressure loss?

RIP to those involved

[Le TVR]

DGAC says that there was no Mayday, it was an automatic distress alert triggered at 5000 ft when contact was lost. So no contact from flightdeck....

[JustinF]

1047 call: DGAC source says pilots called «urgence, urgence» (“emergency, emergency”), as opposed to a mayday call or 7700 squawk. #4U9525

[KTF]

Le TVR said:

DGAC says that there was no Mayday, it was an automatic distress alert triggered at 5000 ft when contact was lost. So no contact from flightdeck....

5000ft is 'ground' level for the mountain.

[SpeckledJim]

What was the weather like?

A stall condition that nobody noticed?

[Stevanos]

RobGT81 said:

Judging by this ^ and this....

French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet is quoted by Associated Press saying debris from the crash has been located. The crash site in the Alps was at an altitude of 2,000m (6,560ft).

The aircraft could have hit the ground at around 400 knots if that is the speed measurement indicated.

Doesn't look good at all.

[essayer]

sneijder said:

I can't see that graph too well on mobile, but it would seem it's descending faster than it can glide ?

That could mean lots of things of course.

Hope for quick answers to those who need them.

Yes it looks that way, if it was an engines out/relight scenario I think 25:1 is possible, but not at the ~400kts it was travelling
That a321 incident is very similar in terms of the flight profile. I'm sure we will know soon enough.

[AlexIT]

SpeckledJim said:

What was the weather like?

A stall condition that nobody noticed?

Reports say weather is good.
From the graphs it was flying at > 400 kts, don't think it was stalling

[NAS]

http://www.aa.com.tr/fr/headlines/482968--un-avion...

Apparently, these are pictures from the site.

[IroningMan]

Is that the normal flightpath for that route? Why so far east?