Air France Flight 447 (AF447/AFR447) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330 serving the flight. They failed to recover the plane from the stall, and the plane crashed into the mid Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.
F-GZCP, the aircraft involved in the accident, landing at Charles de Gaulle Airport in March 2007
The aircraft's vertical stabilizer after its recovery from the ocean
Brigadier Cardoso speaks to the media about the search for the crashed aircraft.
Lt. Col. Henry Munhoz describes the recovery of Airbus A330 wreckage from the ocean.
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded. The critical angle of attack is typically about 15°, but it may vary significantly depending on the fluid, foil, and Reynolds number.
Airflow separating from an airfoil at a high angle of attack, as occurs at a stall.
A Schweizer SGS 1-36 being used for deep-stall research by NASA over the Mojave Desert in 1983.
