>http://poneke.wordpress.com/2009/01/18/airbus/

That text is just ridiculous. Its author even puts "lift" in scare quotes. I can not imagine anyone with a most basic grasp of physics knowledge would do that, but maybe I should not extrapolate from my personal taste.

It is also not true that a power surge alone can put an airplane into a stall. The contrary could be said with some justification, it is a bit more complex though.

Also, I can not see anything in the BEAs interim report about D-AXLA that says the perceived increase in engine power was "uncommanded". As I read it, the thrust levers were in the TOGA position almost entirely during the last seconds of flight.

Frankly, if at all, the investigations related to D-AXLA speaks for the safety of the newer Airbus planes, because this accident would not have happened if stall protection had been operative (it beeing operative is most normal during most of an Airbus flight).

BEAs interim report about this accident:

http://www.bea.aero/docspa/2008/d-la081127ea/pdf/d-la081127ea.pdf

>I've never had to circle an airport for over an hour while >the pilots radio Toulouse to find out how to get the >airplane to stop circling the airport - in anything other >than an Airbus.

Supposing that such a thing even happened, it would most certainly have nothing to do with the difference between a computer augmented flight regime (Airbus style) versus Non-Airbus style, because that computer regime has nothing to do with navigation, it purely controls the immediate flight.

(Do not quote me on that, but I think the longest "planning ahead" of that computer regime would be up to about a minute for the trim - which incidentally can be operated manually too)

"The" autopilot is a different system (different computers, different software) and commonly found on every other western jetliner too.

The fact is that Yemania was on the EU's watch list between July 2007 and the end of 2008 for "incomplete reporting" of inspection procedures.

As to your complaint that I was quoting Murdoch's newspapers -- read this

FRENCH TELEVISION

The 19-year- old A310 that crashed had been barred from use in France after a 2007 French inspection, the government in Paris said.

French Transportation Minister Dominique Bussereau said. “This plane had been excluded from the national territory because it represented certain irregularities,” he told members of parliament.......... “This airline was under strict surveillance,” Bussereau said on France’s i-tele television channel. “It’s a plane that disappeared from French soil following the discovery of numerous faults.”

Is Bussereau's name in fact Murdoch?

AND HERE IS WHAT BLOOMBERG SAYS:

Bussereau said yesterday that France’s civil aviation authority found “certain irregularities” with the aircraft in mid-2007 and Yemenia was placed on an EU watch list because of safety concerns.

Comorian Vice-President Idi Nadhoim criticized the French authorities for not sharing information about the Yemenia plane that crashed. “It would have been easier for us if France had communicated to us the list of Airbus planes not good to fly,” he said in an interview today with France 24.

Various planes operated by Yemenia subsequently underwent 24 inspections in different European countries, according to EU air safety regulators.

The airline wasn’t placed on an EU blacklist because the carrier passed inspections, European Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani told reporters yesterday in Brussels. “The controls were positive,” he said.

REUTER'S SAYS:

European safety inspections of Yemenia aircraft revealed "significant findings" in the area of maintenance, the European Commission told the airline in a letter after one of its airliners crashed in the Indian Ocean.

The Wednesday July 1 letter, obtained by Reuters, told Yemenia that if it did not provide assurances that it was taking "corrective action" on the deficiencies, it could be subject to an EU operating ban.

"Unless the Commission receives adequate evidence with respect to the requested information, it will be obliged to propose to subject all operations of Yemenia Yemen Airways into the Community to an operating ban," it said.

No American carriers fly into Malaysia. That is a great tourist destination.

And another post of mine (I do not want to spam this section, but different topics deserve a bit visual separation).

First, a reminder that concerning the recent A330 accident the BEA has put out an interim report, which The Pilot somehow did not mention. You can find it on http://www.bea.aero

Highlight from the report is that probably the aircraft was intact when hitting the water, however the available evidence is weak for now and this is not necessarily the final word.

Regarding composite materials, one can point out that they have been used in the aircraft industry for 40 years or so, even for complete airframes, and have been used in aerobatics aircraft no less, thus they are known to sustain heavy forces and they are known to endure for decades (even without perfect maintenance). They are used for helicopter rotorblades too, which is a quite demanding application. Incidentally, one of only a few acrobatics capable helicopters uses composite rotorblades.

All this mentioned, of course the usual caveat applies: It is a complex issue and I am not even an expert.

I would find it terrific if someone who knows could point out here the forces which control surfaces have to endure in gusts.

Addressing those gleamy remarks about how European aircraft are unsafe compared to American made, anticipating increasing Boeing sales, I want to mention that there have been at least three serious accidents with American aircraft in 2008 and 2009, one with a 737, one 777 and one with a MD-82. The latter was probably a pilot error more than an aircraft problem, but at least a defective warning sound compounded in the accident. In the 737 accident, an aircraft failure was the root cause of the accident. According to the investigations, a malfunctioning speed sensor triggered a decrease in engine power (So much for the hypothesis that only Airbus aircraft suffer uncommanded flight control actions).

And let us not forget the 777 crash in London where the problem was in the design of the fuel feed system.

Of course, too reach firm conclusions about relative safety, one would need statistics.

Finally, one should not so easily lump together the Air France and the Yemen crash. The planes involved come from completely different lines of Airbus aircraft (The early A300 and A310 types, versus the newer A320/A330/A340 types).