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Air France Jet Landed Too Far Down Runway
Real Levasseur, chief of the Transportation Safety Board team investigating the craft, said officials in France who have been downloading data from the cockpit voice recorders - the so-called black boxes - announced Friday most of the indicators from the boxes appeared intact and were not destroyed in the fire. Levasseur said all interviews with the co-pilot - whom Air France said was at the controls during Tuesday's landing - and cabin crew were complete. Levasseur said the Airbus 340 landed too far down the 9,000-foot runway before skidding some 200 yards, landing nose down in a ravine amid torrential rains and winds. ``An aircraft like the 340 should land well toward the back; how long exactly depends on weight, heavy winds, there are a number of factors,'' he said. ``We will certainly be looking at information; and if it turns out the aircraft did land further down the runway ... we will try to determine whether this had a major or critical effect.'' Witnesses and some passengers have said that it appeared that Air France Flight 358 from Paris was coming in too fast and too long when it landed at about 4 p.m. Some aviation experts said the aircraft could have been pushed by a strong cross winds at the same time the aircraft landed on a slick runway, decreasing tire traction and causing a hydroplaning effect. ``I think they landed a little fast, a little long and probably hydroplaned,'' said Capt. Tom Bunn, a retired commercial airline pilot of 30 years for Pan Am and United Airlines. Levasseur on Thursday dismissed questions about whether the east-west 24L runway was long and safe enough, saying it met international standards. However, the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 64,000 airline pilots at 41 airlines in Canada and the United States, disputed this, saying the ravine at the end of the runway may have contributed to the crash. In a statement Thursday, the union said the crash occurred ``at an international airport that, unfortunately, does not meet international standards.'' Levasseur said there was no evidence, meanwhile, that lightning struck the Airbus A340 as it was landing, as reported by some witnesses. ``The wings and wing tips are in pretty good shape.'' He also said investigators have determined that all four engine thrust-reversers were in operation and working fine, ``So that's a good sign.'' Posted by: Steve White 2005-08-06 |
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