Two of the three pilots on an Air France jumbo were sleeping minutes before it plunged into the sea off Brazil, it was revealed yesterday.
Analysis of cockpit conversations showed that as the plane stalled in a tropical storm the three men struggled to regain control, until one shouted: "F***,
we're dead!" just before the Airbus 330 crashed with the loss of all 228 on board.
Horrific details of the last moments of Flight 447, in May 2009, have emerged in a disturbing new investigation into the disaster. Published in the October edition of Vanity Fair magazine, it raises terrifying questions about the "culture'' of Air France pilots sleeping while on duty.
Excerpts from conversations reveal the most junior pilot, Pierre-Cedric Bonin, 32, was at the controls while captain Marc Dubois, 58, was sleeping off a night in Rio with his girlfriend, an off-duty hostess who was also on the flight, alongside pilot David Robert, 37.
As the Paris-bound plane flew into the inter-tropical convergence zone - an area near the Equator known for dangerous turbulence and thunderstorms - its airspeed sensors malfunctioned and it began to stall. Chief investigator Alain Bouillard said: "With most of the weather still lying ahead and an anxious junior pilot at the controls, Dubois decided it was time to get some sleep.
