News bulletins re Air France Flight AF447

... Latest News Bulletin, 03 February 2011, from Stewarts Law

An independent safety study reviewing Air France's operations in the wake of the flight 447 incident was recently undertaken by 8 aviation safety experts. The study produced 35 recommendations however details of the study, its finding or recommendations will not be made public.

Air France claim to have already implemented some of the safety recommendations including the creation of a Flight Safety Committee within the AF board of Directors and the launching an in-flight observation campaign, the LOSA (Line Operations Safety Audit). Quite why Air France did not have systems such as these in place prior to the incident on 1 June 2009 is unknown.

Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of Air France-KLM commented: "Air France is the only airline to have submit itself, on its sole initiative, to the opinion of a team of external experts to whom I extend my gratitude for the quality of the work accomplished. By implementing their recommendations, which combine the best practices observed individually in other airlines worldwide, Air France will place its flight safety performance at the highest level possible".

James Healy-Pratt, Head of Aviation at Stewarts Law, commented:

"It is of note to us that Air France 447 saw the loss of 228 lives, and was a preventable accident. Nearly two years later, there is no accident report, no black boxes have been recovered, and families still await fair compensation from Air France, which is dragging its feet. For these families, listening to Gourgeon praise his Airline for improving air safety is akin to closing the stable door after the horse has galloped several fields away. Gourgeon might wish to reflect on why Air France has been a higher airline risk in the aviation insurance market for over a decade."