Press conference of SNPL AF447
At 4pm at the HILTON Paris Roissy airport, Tuesday 9 June 2009 Press conference of SNPL AF447
Please find below the summary of what has been said during the press conference held today, Tuesday 9 June 2009 at Roissy airport. Louis Jobard, president of AF Board, and Erick Derivry, SNPL spokesperson This press conference is aimed at evaluating the present situation with the last available elements and AF decisions. Our thoughts go firstly to the victims of the accident, crew and passengers, and their families. AF447 accident is a drama. The union is a trade-unionized organization which wants to understand the causes and circumstances of any accident, the return on experience, to permit a safer air transport. Air transport remains the safest means of transportation.One needs to avoid to thrown into lions information; as a consequence, one needs to note these two important points:
1) SNPL calls for the calmness, the seriousness and professionalism to collect all practical information
2) Only a juxtaposition of causes led to an accident, not only oneAt the present date, only two facts are certain:
1) There has been bad weather conditions and a zone of inter-tropical front2) There had been automatic messages which underline a serious technical problem linked with a erroneous speed information
So:
nothing can be said today that there is a direct link between the accident and the probes-there have been previous incidents with these probes-there has never been any incident declared with these new probesThis information presents a beam of assumptions Last night there has been a meeting between AF, the SNPL and other unions. There was no information added, as this is now the exclusive scope of BEA (Enquiries & Analysis Bureau).AF has accelerated its program of probes’ renewal on A330 and A340.*at the end of this week, all aircraft will be fitted with two new probes*end of June all aircraft will be fitted with three new probes The precautionary principle applies and prevails. All A330 and A340 flights leaving Paris have two new probes.