More bad news for Airbus: Yemeni plane crashes with 154 aboard

[PeppyGPhiB]

The girl who survived is actually 14, not a toddler as originally reported. So we may find out at least what the final moments were like on that plane...if she can remember it. I understand she's very traumatized.

[sdeason1]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

From what I'm told: Of course both use autopilot, but Airbuses rely waaaaay too much on autopilot and the flight computer, and in fact will not allow a pilot to override it in many cases; Boeing takes a different philosophy and allows pilot judgment to override flight computer or fly the plane without the computer. I've been told that if the flight computer goes out on an Airbus, the plane is toast as the pilot can't fly the plane without it. It's called "Fly by wire," though I don't know what that means exactly.

fly by wire is hands on. but you have a great point. with the size of the aircraft today techo is super important as compared to the old stick and rudder peddels. so basically it ain't going to happen and crash is the only option. if the auto pilot goes out, they can still fly the aircraft. if the hydralics are lost, then there is a major situation and crash. glide paths on planes this size anymore are like stones. i some times wonder if we have not gone to far to build bigger which is not always better. one of the best planes is the boeing 737. one of the best was the lockheed-L1011 that i flew to europe/california and was told this by a pilot so there must be some truth there.

[AOII_LB93]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

I understand she's very traumatized.

Well that certainly goes without saying, I think most of us would be in this instance.

A lot of the French news sites are reporting that a lot of passengers actually complained and have been complaining about this airline because they(Yemenia) in general suck i.e. cattle call type airline with instances of actually not having seats for people.

[DolphinChicaDDD]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

...A lot of the French news sites are reporting that a lot of passengers actually complained and have been complaining about this airline because they(Yemenia) in general suck i.e. cattle call type airline with instances of actually not having seats for people.

This doesn't surprise me. If we're talking Middle East carriers, if it isn't Eithad, Emirates, or Qatar, you're talking ultra low cost carrier that doesn't given a crap about service. In any negative situation, (oversold situation, misconncets, etc) even on a good carrier it becomes the person that yells the loudest and/or the woman who cries first. Thats how I got my carry-on luggage(which when we were moving had ALL of my jewelry, medical records, birth certificates, etc- hell if I was letting that get checked to my final destination) carried on the plane.

[texas*princess]

Originally Posted by AOII_LB93

Well that certainly goes without saying, I think most of us would be in this instance.

A lot of the French news sites are reporting that a lot of passengers actually complained and have been complaining about this airline because they(Yemenia) in general suck i.e. cattle call type airline with instances of actually not having seats for people.

I heard on the news that the girl was traveling with her mother. She didn't say much but that she couldn't swim well and was holding onto a piece of wreckage to keep her afloat and rescuers saw her thin arm waving for help.

They said she was (or will be ?) put back on a plane to go back to her father, and though she has been asking about her mom, she hasn't been told that she was the only survivor found.

"She didn't feel a thing. She found herself in water," Paris-based Kassim Bakari told French radio RTL after speaking to his 13-year-old daughter Bahia who was recovering Wednesday in hospital in Moroni.

"She could hear people talking, but in the middle of the night she couldn't see a thing. She managed to hold on to a piece of something," said Bakari, whose wife was also on board the doomed flight and is presumed to be among the 152 victims.

"She said she was ejected from the plane," Bakari said.

CNN article

If she heard voices, is it possible others were still alive when the initial impact happened, but didn't make it until the time she was rescued? Do you think maybe the voices were actually there or maybe something "made up" by her imagination to help her cope with all of the trauma?!