It threatened to ruin the reputation of the A320, potentially losing many millions of dollars in sales. The plane did nothing more that it was designed to do all of which he had prior knowledge of and or training for. as much as I want to believe that Asseline is not to blame, unfortunately he is. The flight attendant then began evacuating the passengers but they soon began to pile up at the bottom of the slide as their route was blocked by trees and branches. 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. You don't need to think as much you just do. 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? 12:45:30 - nose-up attitude increases to 7. Both pilots received minor head injuries and also suffered from smoke inhalation and shock. The captain, Michel Asseline, disputed the report and claimed an error in the fly-by-wire computer prevented him from applying thrust and pulling up. 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. A website, http://www.crashdehabsheim.net/has been set up to analyze the scandal. [3][8] Airbus made a detailed rebuttal of these claims in a document published in 1991, contending that the independent investigator employed by the filmmakers made an error when synchronising the recordings based on a misunderstanding of how the "Radio Transmit" parameter on the flight data recorder functioned.[9]. I thing, there was no evidence, that captain Asseline made a fault before crash of plane. Foremost in my mind when I fly is safety not only form anyone flying with me but also for myself. I feel he should have radioed in and asked if it was acceptable to switch runways. We dont give your email out and we dont spam you. Cookie Notice [4], Captain Michel Asseline, 44, had been a pilot with Air France for almost twenty years and had the following endorsements: Caravelle; Boeing 707, 727, and 737; and Airbus A300 and A310. This was yet another unanticipated vulnerability. This is why Michael in the end is were the blame ends up being put. After a few seconds, Asseline claims, he became worried that the plane's completely computerised throttle control had malfunctioned and responded by pulling the throttle all the way back then forward again. 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. But now that the aircraft was performing its flyover at only thirty feet, the crew noticed the aircraft was lower than the now-identified hazard that they were fast approaching. Respond with some you can think of! are totally missing the point. I don't agree at court are idiots. 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. Its FREE!!! The captain would slow the aircraft to its minimum flying speed with maximum angle of attack, disable the "alpha floor" (the function that would otherwise automatically increase engine thrust when the angle of attack reached 15) and rely on the first officer to adjust the engine thrust manually to maintain 100 feet. Menu. Captain Asseline was victim of strange circumstances, and his imprisonment had no reason.Kjeld Olsen, Denmark. Captain Michel Asseline asserted that the altimeter read 30m (100'). Captain Michel Asseline, 44, had been an airline pilot with Air France for almost 20 years and had the following endorsements: Caravelle, Boeing 707, 727, and 737, and Airbus A300 and A310. Not easy, but not impossible. Captain Asseline was flying to Mont Blanc, period. Any experienced pilot, or physician for that matter, smells disaster. . He said this at least a decade before the Airbus crash. Wouldnt a 200-foot overflight be nearly as spectacular? [1] A training captain since 1979, Asseline was appointed to head the company's A320 training subdivision at the end of 1987. 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. All the passengers survived the initial impact, but a woman and two children died from smoke inhalation before they could escape after struggling to unfasten the seatbelt. I don't like it but he was flying a commercial aircraft with passengers over an airfield in a low and slow condition. He was President of the leading French pilots union, the SNPL, at the time an Airbus A320 crashed into trees at Habsheim in Eastern France in June 1988. The official report from BEA concluded that the probable cause of the accident was a combination of the following: Furthermore, the bureau concluded that if the descent below 100 feet was not deliberate, it may have resulted from a failure by the crew to take proper account of the visual and aural information available to them regarding the elevation "above ground level" (AGL) of the aircraft. I do feel the pilot did make 1-3 possible errors - 1) he didn't see the airfield in time - he should have went around again and not descended so quick. 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. But the take home message, why do you spend every day at work in the cross-hairs of numerous non-producers who cant do the job, but are stalking you? But the truth is that the new technology has caused some crashes as well. The press was aboard. Another was a girl in seat 8C, who was unable to remove her seatbelt (her older brother had removed his own seatbelt but was carried away by the rush of people before he could help his sister). Mazires was given a twelve month suspended sentence. [2], Habsheim aerodrome was too small to be listed in the aircraft's flight computer, thereby requiring a visual approach; both pilots were also unfamiliar with the airfield when they began their descent from 2,000 feet (610m) only 6 nautical miles (11km) from the field. 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. But it's all about me and you. He was not given a map and route. Asseline's experience of flying the aircraft type at the outer limits of its flight performance envelope may have led to overconfidence and complacency. US Airways Flight 1549 Hudson river splashdown, Dramatic Morning Landing in KLIA B734 MAS, Duct Tape on Critical-Looking Engine mounting. The computer didnt know he meant just to pop up a few hundred feet. 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. 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. I think the pilot is culpable. Today, the captain, Michel Asseline has lost his French pilot license for 8 years. Asseline, who had been a senior pilot with Air France for eight years, maintained the pilots were unfairly blamed, and said the plane had failed to respond quickly to attempts to raise it. I'm on the pilot's side here. [2], Traditionally, pilots respect the inherent dangers of flying at low speeds at low altitude, and normally, a pilot would not attempt to fly an aircraft so close to stalling with the engines at flight idle (minimum thrust setting in flight). That was sheer stupidity. Ascending at such an angle would lead to the planes stalling within minutes. Guilty. Most of the public believes Airbus' controls systems were the root cause of this crash, or at least a major part of it. He is in a wheel chair now, but thats gotta be a tough one to be the one and only survivor and its because of an error on his part. I know a captain who made a barrel-roll with a Dornier 328. Even if his boss said fly at 100ft or you will lose your job he should not have flown at that height. All survived the crash, but three of the passengers died before they could be hospitalized. Overflight at this altitude made the demonstration to the crowd even more awe-inspiring. 12:43:44 - the aircraft begins its descent from 2,000 feet (610m), initially at a rate of 300 feet (91m) per minute with 'Flaps 1'. He was the lead test pilot for the A320 in its development. 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. Its about commercial aviation, and Ive tried to include all the relevant facts for you to draw conclusions. He was the lead test pilot for the A320 in its development. French investigation says that Asseline was trying to do an overly-ambitious maneuver and made critical errors. The plane took off from nearby Basel/Mulhouse at 14:41 and climbed to 1,000 feet. The aircraft was on ground for a week for saftety checks and the captain was downgraded for 2 years to a FO. 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