Air France Flight 447

Air France Flight 447 was a scheduled international transatlantic passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications and the resulting miscommunication between the pilots of the Airbus A330 led to an inadvertent stall. They failed to recover the aircraft from the stall, and the aircraft crashed into the mid-Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.

The Brazilian Navy recovered the first major wreckage and two bodies from the sea within five days of the accident, but the investigation by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) was initially hampered because the aircraft's flight recorders were not recovered from the ocean floor until May 2011, nearly two years after the accident.

The BEA's final report, released at a press conference on 5 July 2012, concluded that the aircraft suffered temporary inconsistencies between the airspeed measurements—likely resulting from ice crystals obstructing the aircraft's pitot tubes—which caused the autopilot to disconnect. The crew reacted incorrectly to this, causing the aircraft to enter an aerodynamic stall which the pilots failed to correct. The accident is the deadliest in the history of Air France, as well as the deadliest aviation accident involving the Airbus A330.

The aircraft involved was a four-year-old Airbus A330-203, with serial number 0660, registered as F-GZCP. It was delivered to the airline in April 2005. The aircraft was powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1A3 engines with a maximum thrust of 304.8 or 268.7 kN (68,530 or 60,400 lbf) (take-off/max continuous), giving it a cruise speed range of Mach 0.82 to Mach 0.86 (470 to 500 kn; 880 to 920 km/h; 540 to 570 mph), at 35,000 feet (11,000 m) of altitude and a range of 12,500 km (6,700 nmi; 7,800 mi). The aircraft underwent a major overhaul on 16 April 2009, and at the time of the accident had accumulated about 18,870 flying hours. It was the last Airbus A330 delivered to the airline.

The aircraft was carrying 216 passengers, 3 aircrew, and 9 cabin crew in two cabins of service. Among the 216 passengers were 126 men, 82 women and 8 children (including 1 infant).

There were three pilots on the flight:

There were 9 cabin crew members on the flight:

Of the 12 crew members (including aircrew and cabin crew), 11 were French and 1 was Brazilian.