March 24, 2015

expert reaction to Airbus A320 crash in French Alps

A Germanwings Airbus A320 airline has crashed in the French Alps while travelling between Barcelona and Duesseldorf.

Dr Stephen Wright, Aviation lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Leeds, said:

“From the data that is publicly available, the flight of Germanwings 4U9525 appears to be ‘normal’ up until 1030hrs (local), where it was cruising at an altitude of 38,000ft.

“At, or about this time, the aircraft began a rapid rate of descent – between 2,000 to 5,300 feet per minute – at a flight speed of around 440 to 460 knots. To descend from the scheduled flight plan, the flight crew would usually communicate this with air traffic control (ATC), normally giving a reason to why an urgent change of the plan is necessary. ATC would need to grant permission for the change, to keep other aircraft in the area safe and away from the aircraft in difficulty.

“At 1047hrs, the flight crew made a distress call to ATC. The aircraft, according to other media reports, has continued to fly for a further 10 to 15 minutes before crashing in the mountainous region of Alpes-de-Hautes-Provence, reportedly striking a mountain in the region. There are no expected survivors.

“Accident investigators will be travelling to the region now, to initially recover the digital flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. Additionally, the all other information from the flight will be passed on to the investigation authorities. The aircraft will subsequently be recovered so a full detailed investigation on the aircraft systems can be performed.”

Declared interests

None declared