Air France jet vanishes from radar

[Corrigan]

I like Mayday. Sure, it gets repetitive, but only because they can't in an episode rely on stuff they've explained in previous ones.

Also, as far as that Helios flight is concerned, I'm pretty sure they just missed it during the pre-flight checks.

[Yurgon]

I like Mayday. Sure, it gets repetitive, but only because they can't in an episode rely on stuff they've explained in previous ones.

Also, as far as that Helios flight is concerned, I'm pretty sure they just missed it during the pre-flight checks.

 

I don't mind that they explain stuff that had been explained in previous episodes. However, after each commercial break they repeat what they had been talking about just moments ago. That's the part that drives me crazy. Or how they announce that investigators were shocked when they realized a plane had flown way too low. Well duh, if it hadn't flown too low it wouldn't have crashed, so why is that a surprise? Apparently I just don't really belong to the target audience of this particular show, although I'm interested in the things they talk about. I guess I'd prefer more facts and less sensationalism.

 

Concerning the actual switch position on the Helios flight, according to Wikipedia:

 

After the aircraft was returned into service, the flight crew overlooked the pressurisation system on three separate occasions: during the pre-flight procedure, the after-start check, and the after take-off check. During none of these checks did the flight crew notice the incorrect setting.

 

I think this is vital in understanding the crash. Mayday explained why the switch had been set to manual but IIRC they never mentioned that the crew should have checked the switch and set it to auto.

 

Another aspect that comes to mind is how the crew misinterpreted the warning indications. Wikipedia again:

 

Their lawyer [...] said "Boeing put the same alarm in place for two different types of dysfunction. One was a minor fault, but the other – the loss of oxygen in the cockpit – is extremely important".

 

So the question is, what lessons will be learned from the crash? According to Wikipedia, the FAA reacted in 2011 (a rather long time IMO) by issuing an airworthiness directive. Another question would be if the crew had been properly trained and if new training procedures need to be implemented to prevent the same thing from happening again.

 

As far as I remember, none of these questions came up in that episode. And that's just one example that came to my mind. I could go on for hours (and maybe I'll do that once I've watched the episode about AF447).

[Corrigan]

I take your points. I don't really agree with the repetitiveness, though -- I don't find it that bad.

 

Regarding the lessons learned -- I'm guessing the episode in question was made and aired long before that FAA directive in 2011.