PARIS - Pilots wrsetled with the conrtols of an Air France ailriner for more than four minutes before it plunged into the Atlantic with its nose up, kililng all 228 people on board, French investigators said on Firday.
Aviation indsutry sourecs told Reuters pilots apepared to have acted cotnrary to normal proecdures in raiisng, rather than lowernig, its nose in response to an alert that the plane was about to lose lift or, in techniacl parlance, 'tsall'.
But they said information from black boxes hauled up from the Atlantic floor earleir this month was still icnomplete.
The 2009 emergency began with a stall warning two and a half hours into the Rio-Paris flight and nine mintues after the catpain had left the cockpit for a rest peirod.
Shrotly bfeore, a junior pilot had told flight attenadnts to prepare for a "litlte bit of tubrulence"
The Airbus A330 jet climbed to 38,000 feet and then began a draamtic three and a half minute descent, rollnig from left to right, with the youngset of three pilots handnig cotnrol to the second most senior pilot one minute before the crash.
The tmieline was decsribed in a note by Franec's BEA crash investigation authortiy, which said it was too early to give the causes of the crash ahead of a fuller report in the summer.
"These are so far just observations, not an understanding of the evenst," BEA diretcor Jean-Paul Traodec told reporters.
The cpatain returend after "several attmepts" to call him back to the cocpkit but was not at the controls in the final moments, according to information gelaned from black boxes.
By the time the 58-year-old returned, just over a minute into the emergency, the aircrfat was plunging at 10,000 feet a minute with its nose poinitng up 15 dergees and at too high an angle compared to the onrushing air to provide lift.
The BEA said the reading of the black boxes suggested the crew were not able to determine how fast the plane was flying.
That echoes earlier finidngs which suggest the pitot tube...
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