The whole flight profile is likely programmed into the autopilot and
engaged at some point after takeoff (though I think these planes can
take off and land themselves once told to do so by the "pilots"), so
when it reaches cruise altitude it then levels out, engines are trimmed,
whatever to maintain proper altitude and speed. It has been noted in
other Airbuses that some of the external sensors (angle-of-attack and
pitot tube "speed" sensors) have iced up or quit working, which then
buggers the autopilot into thinking that it needs to do something,
usually improper. I think that is what happened to the one that crashed
into the Atlantic a few years ago, best they could figure. The pilots
might not know if the indicators are wrong, and the autopilot is doing
its thing, until too late to do anything about it. This one took
several minutes to descend though, so one would think the pilots would
notice that, but in the Atlantic crash they seemed quite confused and
ended up doing the wrong things and flew into the water, somewhat
similar situation though I think that one involved some thunderstorms.
If a windscreen shatters that could cause all kinds of commotion,
autopilot or not. Rapid depressurization, pilots knocked out, they fall
on the stick, override the autopilot, who knows, but a Very Bad situation.
Air is bled off the compressor stages on the engines to pressurize the
aircraft, so the oxygen is coming from the air outside the plane, which
is at maybe 1/4 or less of the pressure at ground level. There is
supplemental oxygen should the aircraft lose pressurization (the yellow
masks) and the pilots have their own supply that should be within easy
reach, if they are in a condition to reach their masks and turn on the
oxygen.
If they get the recorders data they should be able to figure it out.
--R
On 3/25/15 11:18 AM, Andrew Strasfogel wrote:
I have never piloted a plane and am really ignorant about aviation,
but here goes anyway:
What puzzles me is that this all transpired just as they reached
cruising altitude. Coincidence??
I'd like to know what, if anything, do the pilots would do (manually)
when they reach cruising altidue. If the pilots have no taks or
checklists, then what does the computer that runs the plane do when
the aircraft reches cruising altitude?
If a windshield cracked why did this occure exactyl at the moment the
plane reached 38,000'?
How does a plane suddnely "lose oxygen"? Where does the O2 come from
anyway?
On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 10:47 AM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>> wrote:
Report speculates windshield cracked, which would tend to ruin
one's day at 30k ft and 400some kts.
--R
On 3/25/15 10:38 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes wrote:
Probably by the carrier. Most are pretty equipment specific as
far as the aircraft they fly.
Dan who likes the term "auger in" best
Sent from my iPad
On Mar 25, 2015, at 10:06 AM, Curly McLain via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com <mailto:mercedes@okiebenz.com>> wrote:
As a pilot, and for many years flying for business, I
personally have a
rule that I will not fly on Airbus aircraft.
The design is "fly by wire" and the response from
pilot input is convoluted
by the pilot [s] having to "fly the computer first" to
have positive
control of the airframe.
As a pilot, I always fly the airplane I'm in,
regardless that I'm in a
passenger seat. The Airbus aircraft, in my opinion,
lack that fine edge
that only comes when the pilots have positive control
of the aircraft.
So, I refuse them. Personal choice.
On the issue of the crew going hypoxia and passing
out. If pressurization
were lost, multiple alarms should go off and the crew
has quick don oxygen
masks at each station in cockpit.. Unless, Airbus yet
again gave all that
control to computers and the failure path multiplied
from primary to
secondary backup computers.. Then, failure of a few
bites of data killed
all on board..
Again...
when buying a ticket, how do you choose the aircraft first?
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