The last official word in the crash of Air France flight 447 says malfunctioning sensors misled pilots who didn't understand they were in a stall, causing them to fatally pull the plane's nose up, instead of down.
Last night's episode of Nightline, all about the disappearance of Air France flight 447, featured a perfect nugget of news with which to drum up some renewed interest in the story: The suggestion of a sex scandal involving the plane's captain.
This was a great year for bad news, whether you're a crime buff, a lover of disaster porn, or just a run-of-the-mill gawker.
Popular Mechanics' recent feature narrating Air France flight 447's final five minutes gives one of the most detailed and sensory-rich accounts of the mysterious crash, and from it we can start to understand what it would have been like as a passenger on the doomed aircraft.
We look at who's to blame, what instruments may have failed, and possible repercussions
The French agency BEA urges better pilot training to handle crisis in the air
An official report details what happened when the plane plummeted into the ocean
Speed sensors thought to have disengaged autopilot as captain was out of the cockpit
But voice recordings crucial to understanding the crash haven't been recovered
Highlights from an exhaustive report on a mysterious crash
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