ALL pilots KNOW, that there is a spool up time on jetengines. To confirm, a close friend and colleague worked with M. Asseline for a simulator acceptance, and assessed him also as over-confident to the point of being arrogant. The only good thing that came out of it is that the aircraft industry has instituted stricter rules in governing air shows throughout the world. Do you think the safety override crashed the plane when it forced the nose down, and the crash was inevitable? I'm confident in my skills & my co workers often come to me with questions or for help and always no matter how busy I am I gladly help them. He was a highly distinguished pilot with 10,463 flight hours. Guilty. Very low flyover height, lower than surrounding obstacles; Speed very slow and reducing to reach maximum possible angle of attack; Passengers should be banned from all demonstration flights, Flight crews should be provided with and ensure proper reconnaissance of airfields, Airline company procedures should be reviewed to ensure they comply with official regulations concerning altitude, This page was last edited on 14 January 2023, at 19:11. After takeoff, eight minutes away, the Aerodrome came into view. Everything from the Goodyear blimp to the Zeppelin, Night Photos So, during a high-profile demonstration of the new Airbus 320 via a flyover at a French airshow several malfunctions/design flaws are revealed -- one, the airplane will override emergency lift procedures if it believes it is preventing a stall (instead of going nose up, it will force a nose-down situation), two, the digital altimeter 'alarm' is not looped into the headset, and three, the altimeter might not always reflect the correct altitude. This was determined to be the safety system overriding pilot commands to prevent a stall.-- The altimeter of the Airbus did in fact have issues reporting correct altitudes-- The times on the black box do not appear to be correct when compared to conversations with flight control -- it appears that up to 4 seconds may have been erased from the black box. The evacuation from the rear door had been fast and smooth thanks to the instructions from the flight attendants at the rear of the aircraft. [2], Of 136 people on board, three did not escape. ("Is guilty the pilot") published in 1992 ("Edition N1" editor). Accident, incident and crash related photos, Air to Air Management often screws around. He is now flying in Australia. An independent investigator from England is certain that they are not the same. 12:45:06 - the aircraft descends through 200 feet (61m) at an airspeed of 155 knots. He was the lead test pilot for the A320 in its development. I feel he should have radioed in and asked if it was acceptable to switch runways. He did the best he could. He choose to break the rule and it cost some lives plane and simple. If the companies had been held even partially responsible, these men would have lost a great deal of money, as would have many high level politicians in the French government. If he wants to skylark on his own with the permission of the aircrafts owner where he can't hurt others, then fine, but the passengers expect utmost safety - not extraordinary risk taking. You are not a pilot. [1] Also punished with suspended sentences were Air Frances then-director of air operations, a security official for Air France, and the president of the Habsheim air club. Guilty. It is BASIC knowledge!!! Ten minutes after the crash, the first of the fire trucks arrived. He said this at least a decade before the Airbus crash. Airbus should have simply admitted this and moved on. I don't agree at court are idiots. Tail and Winglet closeups with beautiful airline logos. He was not qualified for what was, essentially, display flying. Safety is the first thing I learned and the last from my instructors. Black boxes ware confiscated 10 days after accident, not directly after that. In reality, that only ensures that one pilot never makes the mistake again. This was the first fatal crash of an Airbus A320. He then tried to open the left-side forward door, which was blocked by trees. its the fault of the AIRBUS not the pilot, NO it isn't. There is evidence for this: On June 26, 1988, a very special Airbus A320 left Basel-Mulhouse Airport in Habsheim, France. Think about it - low level flying with 130 passengers on board? But the truth is that the new technology has caused some crashes as well. Get a job criticizing nobody blames you for doing that. If he and his crew, knowing the dangers that are inherrent in a low speed, low level flyover, want to, that is thier profesional decision. He knowingly took it into a dangerous situation where the aircraft had to take measures to protect itself (which most planes don't). *Captain Michel Asseline got thrown under the Airbus. I am Captain Michel. Its about commercial aviation, and Ive tried to include all the relevant facts for you to draw conclusions. 12:44:45 - 'Flaps 3' is selected as the aircraft descends through 500 feet (150m) at an airspeed of 177 knots. I find it ironic that so many people blame the captain and no mention of Air France who planned the entire thing! Plane" and included an interview with Captain Michel Asseline, survivors, and accident investigators.[10]. This is why Michael in the end is were the blame ends up being put. Asseline assured his first officer. The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) continued to operate for about 1.5 seconds after the initial impact. Then, sightseeing charter passengers would board and the aircraft would fly the short distance to the small MulhouseHabsheim Airfield. Captain Michel Asseline asserted that the altimeter read 30m (100'). the aerodrome about ten nautical miles away with his First Office r Maziers. He was never given the chance. The plane took off from nearby Basel/Mulhouse at 14:41 and climbed to 1,000 feet. Heres a story about me and you. He exposed multiple anomalies, not to say lies, in the experts' evidence and in the data of the crash all of which pointed to a very high level, state inspired plot to whitewash the aircraft in the crash and confirmed what the pilot had been saying all along. He joined the pilot's defense team. You sound very biased towards the pilot.No wonder you completely missed the point that the Flight Data Recorder's data was tampered with, with the crucial seconds intentionally cut off from the magnetic tape that would confirm the plane's delay in response to his increase in thrust in his attempt to lift the plane over the treetops. What is crucial is to understand the threats that can lead to errors, look at how those threats can be mitigated, and have procedures in place that allow errors to be caught and resolved before they become a safety event. The overflight of the airfield at the Aerodrome was to take place at alpha-max, the lowest speed at which a craft could fly without stalling. Captain Michel Asseline "44" Second Officer Pierre Mazire "45" Captain Asseline has logged 10,463 flight hours while First Officer Maziere . Case Study 9: Leap of Faith Summary: In the case study, Captain Michel Asseline piloted the brand new Airbus A320 for the airshow in France. When he increased throttle to level off at 100ft, the engines did not respond. They did have indications of problems as in any new version of an airplane before it is completely debugged. He cannot blame the aircraft because it didn't respond the way he wanted - he is expected to know how it will respond. ), You can read more about this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_France_Flight_296. One of the worst things you can do if a pilot makes a mistake, is fire him thinking that the problem is solved. However, the elevators did not respond to the pilot's commands because the A320's computer system engaged its "alpha protection" mode (meant to prevent the aircraft from entering a stall). guilty of manslaughter and bodily harm, again on the basis of the Get a job criticizing - nobody blames you for doing that. He is dangerous and shouldn't be flying. The pilot and copilot were charged and convicted of three counts of involuntary manslaughter in the French criminal courts. Asseline's experience of flying the aircraft type at the outer limits of its flight performance envelope may have led to overconfidence and complacency. And that's a big systematic default. Captain Asseline, First Officer Mazire, two Air France employees and the sponsor of the event, president of the local flight club, were charged with the crime of involuntary manslaughter, of the group Captain Asseline was the only one who ended up in jail convicted to 10 months in prison, while the rest ended up on probation. It threatened to ruin the reputation of the A320, potentially losing many millions of dollars in sales. He says that when Airbus realized that this would be a PR disaster, that they tampered with evidence to make it appear that he had not taken corrective action soon enough. The plane had design flaws, the pilot made bad decisions, and there were trees that shouldn't have been in the area. *Defects come in all shades. *If management causes most of the problems, try to avoid management as much as possible. As a pilot you study this rule and there are many rules. [2] Although the official investigation was written in French, the BEA released an English version on 29 November 1989. Sorry but the pilot is at fault. The engine spool-up time of about 5 sec was perfectly correct, given that they had been pulled right back to flight-idle. Plain stupidity! instead of only 30ft trees they could have easily been larger. The fact is that this kind of statement does not negate the fact that he was breaking the rules. Any experienced pilot, or physician for that matter, smells disaster. Therefore, Captain Asseline has to also take some responsibility for those that died and those that were maimed for life. [2], First Officer Pierre Mazires, 45, had been flying with the airline since 1969 and had been a training captain for six years. If you remove management edicts and substitute human judgment, you can eliminate 19 out of 20 errors. Re: Pilots that make mistakes -- Where are they today? At 450 feet, the pilot monitoring the captain flying informed him that the plane would reach 100 feet at 14:45. I just saw the nat. It was piloted by a premier captain of Air France, Captain Michel Asseline, with over10,000 air hours, and led the training division of Air France for qualifying pilots on the Airbus 320. But as the aircraft approached the field, the flight deck crew noticed that the spectators were gathered beside runway 34R (2,100 feet (640m) long, grass). I feel that the sentence is unfair. . Today, they would perform a flyover at the Habsheim Air Show at the Habsheim Aerodrome and go on to a sightseeing tour of Mont Blanc. Anyone who has worked same job for years will know what I mean when I say we don't really have to think about what we are doing at work we just do it because we have done it so many times before and know exactly how to do it correctly. I don't know how passenger survived. He had to spot the airfield from the air and prepare to do the overflight. Oddly enough, so is a reporter who was ON the flight.-- Asseline is flying in Austraila now.-- Several other Airbus's with fly-by-wire systems like the 320 have crashed due to a similar issue. Nor, then, were his passengers. Asseline argues that he attempted to apply thrust earlier than indicated in the flight recorder data. Discover (and save) your own Pins on Pinterest. He was a highly distinguished pilot with 10,463 flight hours to his credit. If I did know their names I certainly would not tell you. I think it much more likely that he applied power well before that, as he claims. The press was aboard. He had to spot the airfield from the air and prepare to do the overflight. This Pin was discovered by flygcforum.com. Overflight at this altitude made the demonstration to the crowd even more awe-inspiring. But upon seeing the Aerodrome, the pilot saw that the audience were gathered elsewhere, on Runway 34R. "No, of course they shouldn't. I think this is a great thread, I also wonder what happens to pilots after landing incidents etc, like TK incident at KTM what happens to pilots after such incidents? Foremost in my mind when I fly is safety not only form anyone flying with me but also for myself. It was piloted by a premier captain of Air France, Captain Michel Asseline, with over10,000 air hours, and led the training division of Air France for qualifying pilots on the Airbus 320. Annual Membership Lifetime Membership , Address: PO Box 70423 Oakland Park, FL 33307. 3 passengers died in the accident and about 50 were injured. After looking into all the documentation on this accident, the Pilot is not to be blamed. The A320 had been recently introduced, and Flight 296 was the first passenger flight of the A320. Captain Michel Asseline served a year in prison. However, while the pilots were trained in metric, this particular plane was in Imperial units. Three seconds later, the undercarriage is extended. His arrogance, recklessness, lack of skills and knowledge destroyed a plane and killed 2 children and an adult. Our large helicopter section. He wanted to pop up 70 feet to get over the trees. He told his history in his book "Le pilote est-il coupable?" Born Today Most Popular Celebs Most Popular Celebs Celebrity News. Overflight at this altitude made the demonstration to the crowd even more awe-inspiring. This bug has now been corrected in later versions of the 320. Air France Flight 296Q was a chartered flight of a new Airbus A320-111 operated by Air France for Air Charter International. This is a very bad thing for a pilot to do at any time, and a cardinal sin when done 30 ft above the ground. I'm not sure about that detail), and crashed itself. I, personally, do not agree with the conclusions reached in this aircraft accident report. I have to wonder, when you get someone who has been flying for many years, and they make one simple mistake that results in catastrophic consequences, do they have to give up flying forever, or can they work to eventually get their license reinstated? Claiming he couldnt hear or read the radio altimeter is ridiculous. I also remember the incident and also am on the side of the pilot. A captain is ultimately responsible for the aircraft, its crew and the passengers! There are several "small" inconsistencies and anomalies throughout the entire accident report which have not been explained sufficiently for any critically-thinking investigatorSTILL.The crew did NOT make sure all the passengers were out before exiting themselves as per protocol, and then misinformed the captain that everyone was out. 12:45:23 - the aircraft completes the deviation at a height of 46 feet (14m) and an airspeed of 141 knots. He was however given a plane that would not climb properly when he tried to and this also contributed to the crash. He was flying with visual flight rules. [2], During the impact, the right wing was torn off, and the spilling fuel ignited immediately. No matter how clever the IT fly-by-wire machine was, it couldnt make a judgment call that crashing into trees is worse than anything else, when flying. He exposed multiple anomalies, not to say lies, in the experts evidence and in the data of the crash all of which pointed to a very high level, state inspired plot to whitewash the aircraft in the crash and confirmed what the pilot had been saying all along. He joined the pilots defense team. Man can find signs of manipulation in recorded data, missing data etc. He is now flying in Australia. The tape speed was set using the 400Hz frequency of the aircraft's electrical supply and then synchronised with the air traffic control recordings, which included a time track.[2]. Yes, Cpt. If you change the pilots cap for a lab coat, arent you Captain Michel Asseline, too? However, where they failed was in communicating these "bugs" or problems to all flight personnel flying the aircraft. He was not given a map and route. Ascending at such an angle would lead to the planes stalling within minutes. It is very disrespectful towards the family members who have lost loved ones in this crash for him not to take responsibility for the mistakes he has made. The computer didnt know he meant just to pop up a few hundred feet. The combustion chambers clogged and the engines failed. He was supposed to conduct a low-level pass over the runway at . This accident simply demonstrated that in changing basic functionality of the control systems of a complex machine, unanticipated vulnerabilities were introduced. The pilot was told, word-of-mouth, to do so. Captain Michel Asseline served a year in prison. He was endorsed on the Caravelle, Boeing 707 and 737, and had qualified as an A320 captain three months before the accident. and our Asseline should've used Radar Altimeter when flying at such a low level. The aircraft fell to the ground. Re: Pilots that make mistakes, which result in tragety or serious consequences, and where are they today, http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=m a4bc613c6d. He has admitted these mistakes and paid for them. Five individuals, including the captain and first officer, were later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Have you ever feared losing your job? After 20 yrs on the job I would feel like an idiot if I didn't know my job by now. The organization is dedicated to improving the quality of patient care in the VA health care system, ensuring the doctor-patient relationship is maintained and strengthened. Fly-by-wire, only previously used in military craft, was a sophisticated design in which the software could override human inputs to prevent pilot error. This is specifically in reference to the fact that the Airbus 320 system would consider the craft landing when it was low to the ground and override the Captain's ability to pull the craft up. Apart from the tail section, the aircraft was consumed by fire. I have no doubt the pilot was to blame, and the conspiracy theorists (tampering with a black box?) Spectral analysis of the engine sounds indicated that 0.6 seconds later, both engines had reached 91% (by this stage, they were starting to ingest vegetation). It threatened to ruin the reputation of the A320, potentially losing many millions of dollars in sales. I'm just a hard worker who made it a point to learn my job inside and out - why? Pilots are charged with the safety of their passengers first and foremost. 12:44:14 - the engine power is reduced to flight idle. He said this at least a decade before the Airbus crash. Fly-by-wire was perfect for this precision maneuver of an aircraft. Everyone airminded in France knows that Michel Asseline, who was an Air France chief pilot instructor at the beginning of the Airbus A-320 era and PIC in the A-320 that crashed at Mulhouse-Habsheim airfield in June 1988, resumed his career some years after the accident as a Boeing-737 pilot in Australia. *Management often screws around. My father was THE senior test pilot for the British Civil Aviation Authority at the time of the crash and knew the French pilot personally. Both pilots Captain Asseline and First Officer Mazire survived. The aircraft levels off at 30 feet (9.1m). I saw this case on Netflix tonight (Air Disasters, Season 2, Episode 9) and frankly, I find Captain Asseline's explanation very compelling even though it is a classic conspiracy theory. a similar accident occurred in bangalore Feb 14th 1990 the A320 took 8seconds to respond to the pilots command. Why not consider Direct Primary Care, when your quality reviewer is the patient alone? They might be paid, or simply represent interest of a much more powerful players - Air France. Christian Roger, a professional pilot, complained energetically about the fact-finding process around the crash. Captain Asseline, and four other Air France employees are convicted of involuntary manslaughter. Where was that, somewhere in Kentucky or Tennessee? 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