A court in Colmar, in eastern France, also sentenced pilot Michel Asseline to 12 additional months, which were suspended. I think this is a great thread, I also wonder what happens to pilots after landing incidents etc, like TK incident at KTM what happens to pilots after such incidents? He was not qualified for what was, essentially, display flying. This is why Michael in the end is were the blame ends up being put. I want to do a good job and take pride in my work. We thank you for your support and hope you'll join the largest aviation community on the web. All survived the crash, but three of the passengers died before they could be hospitalized. You are Captain Michel Asseline. 16-ago-2021 - Captain Michel Asseline, 44, had been a pilot with Air France for almost twenty years and had the following endorsements: Caravelle; Boeing 707, 727, and 737; and Airbus A300 and A310. [1] A training captain since 1979, Asseline was appointed to head the company's A320 training subdivision at the end of 1987. Cookie Notice And that's a big systematic default. [2], Habsheim aerodrome was too small to be listed in the aircraft's flight computer, thereby requiring a visual approach; both pilots were also unfamiliar with the airfield when they began their descent from 2,000 feet (610m) only 6 nautical miles (11km) from the field. ("Is guilty the pilot") published in 1992 ("Edition N1" editor). All the passengers were specially selected for the trip. A further ten seconds later, 'Flaps 2' is selected. There are many more lessons to be learned about the practice of medicine from the story of Prisoner Michel Asseline sorry, Captain Michel Asseline. Big business wins in the end and Captain Asseline took the fall. Much of this stock was held in the names of various family members and shell corporations. He is a man of honor. Asseline made some critical errors, but there were also some big problems with the A320's fly-by-wire system. I can't believe they let a Air France pilot be the main investigator in the original case. There are several "small" inconsistencies and anomalies throughout the entire accident report which have not been explained sufficiently for any critically-thinking investigatorSTILL.The crew did NOT make sure all the passengers were out before exiting themselves as per protocol, and then misinformed the captain that everyone was out. Pilot was sentenced to imprisonment for about a year. He was not given a map and route. The door opened partway, and the emergency escape slide began inflating while it was stuck partly inside the fuselage. The captain would slow the aircraft to its minimum flying speed with maximum angle of attack, disable the "alpha floor" (the function that would otherwise automatically increase engine thrust when the angle of attack reached 15) and rely on the first officer to adjust the engine thrust manually to maintain 100 feet. The plan was to overfly Runway Ought-2; the aircraft was configured for a low-altitude overflight. A lot may have to do with corporate, national or ethnic culture, the severity of the incident, if the country the crash/incident has an attitude of criminalizing the acts of pilots (like in Brazil) or prior significant acts of error of the pilot in question. The pilot was told, word-of-mouth, to do so. passenger, journalist, Airbus A320 family, aircraft pilot, airplane | 34K views, 176 likes, 1 loves, 48 comments, 47 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from. Any experienced pilot, or physician for that matter, smells disaster. Anyone who has worked the same job for many years knows that your job after so long becomes second nature to you. Captain Asseline, First Officer Mazire, two Air France employees and the sponsor of the event, president of the local flight club, were charged with the crime of involuntary manslaughter, of the group Captain Asseline was the only one who ended up in jail convicted to 10 months in prison, while the rest ended up on probation. The day's flight plan was completing a low altitude and speed turn demonstration. The pilot pulled up on the yoke to ease the plane up over the hundred-foot-tall woods at the end of the runway. He didnt familiarize himself with the airfield as he should have and he must take responsibility for flying at only 30 feet instead of 100ft. When the evacuation continued, the flight attendant stayed at the door, helping passengers, until she began suffering from smoke inhalation. Passenger cabin shots showing seat arrangements as well as cargo aircraft interior, Cargo Aircraft Community. Because the aircraft's altitude had fallen below 100ft, the plane's computer may have been programmed to believe it was landing and therefore prevent any drastic manoeuvres from either pilot. Captain Asseline was flying to Mont Blanc, period. He was a highly distinguished pilot with 10,463 flight hours. My father was in no doubt that the pilot was solely responsible for the crash, as M. Assline was well known to be over-confident in his appreciation of his flying abilities by all who worked with him (ie: a 'cocky' sort). Therefore, Captain Asseline has to also take some responsibility for those that died and those that were maimed for life. Guilty. Guilty. Five individuals, including the captain and first officer, were later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Captain Michel Asseline "44" Second Officer Pierre Mazire "45" Captain Asseline has logged 10,463 flight hours while First Officer Maziere . [2], Official reports concluded that the pilots flew too low, too slow, failed to see the forest and accidentally flew into it. I mostly blame the French courts for adding insult to injury and imposing a prison sentence on a man who may have faults, but definitely is not guilty of manslaughter. Self - Captain, Flight 296 (segment: Air France Flight 296Q) 2018 1 ep; Credits. This more than anything caused the crash. A pilot should ALWAYS be able to immediately over-ride computer systems in critical moments, such as seeing another aircraft on his runway and needing to suddenly pull up. I sincerely believe that AirBus was involved but not with a planned coverup. Nor, then, were his passengers. You should've seen the trays long before hitting the trees. Less than five seconds later, the turbines began ingesting leaves and branches as the aircraft skimmed the tops of the trees. However, the elevators did not respond to the pilot's commands because the A320's computer system engaged its "alpha protection" mode (meant to prevent the aircraft from entering a stall). However, where they failed was in communicating these "bugs" or problems to all flight personnel flying the aircraft. [3], It was also claimed by the Institute of Police Forensic Evidence and Criminology, based in Switzerland, that the flight data recorders may have been switched and were not the original ones in the airplane. COLMAR, France (AP) _ The pilot of an Airbus A320 jetliner that crashed during a 1988 air show, killing three passengers while hundreds watched, was sentenced to six months in prison Friday. I am Captain Michel Asseline. On June 26, 1988, a very special Airbus A320 left Basel-Mulhouse Airport in Habsheim, France. The combustion chambers clogged and the engines failed. It then takes one second more to go from 67 to 83% N1. From higher up, the forest at the end of 34R had looked like a different type of grass. I take my hat off to the captain. The flight would take 130 passengers and 6 crew aloft. I feel he should have radioed in and asked if it was acceptable to switch runways. I'm confident in my skills & my co workers often come to me with questions or for help and always no matter how busy I am I gladly help them. I'm on the pilot's side here. I feel that the sentence is unfair. The computer didnt know he meant just to pop up a few hundred feet. Both pilots received minor head injuries and also suffered from smoke inhalation and shock. According to French law, Asseline was required to submit himself to the prison system before his case could be taken up by the Court of Cassation. He exposed multiple anomalies, not to say lies, in the experts evidence and in the data of the crash all of which pointed to a very high level, state inspired plot to whitewash the aircraft in the crash and confirmed what the pilot had been saying all along. He joined the pilots defense team. After the rush of people had left and the interior was fast becoming toxic, she stood at the front door and called back into the cabin. I should estimate that in my experience most troubles and most possibilities for improvement add up to the proportions something like this: 94% belongs to the system (responsibility of management), 6% special. Page 315 of Out of the Crisis by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. But the take home message, why do you spend every day at work in the cross-hairs of numerous non-producers who cant do the job, but are stalking you? However why were passengers allowed on this flight. I even can't remember the name of the Germanwings pilot at the moment and he is quite "famous". The DFDR was read the same night by the Brtigny sur Orge Flight Test Centre: Investigators found that the aircraft had been airworthy, that its weight and centre-of-gravity had been within limits, and that there was no evidence of mechanical or electronic systems failure. Any doctor who tries to practice in medicine today, except for my colleagues in Direct Primary Care, live in the world of Captain Michel Asseline every day. Its systems would not allow for mistakes. Ultimately, there is one fact that is not disputed - Captain Asseline flew the aircraft into a stall. [7] Asseline walked free from the court and said he would appeal to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation (French: Cour de Cassation). In order to accomplish the desk-pilots orders, the pilots valuable time was spent jiggering the preparations for the overflight, not allowing him to evaluate strategic details like why fly a plane at 30 feet if there are 100-foot trees at the end? He always could have done a couple fly overs and looped back. Even if no one had died even if there had been no accident he would have and should have been charged with endangering the safety of the passengers. I am Captain Michel Asseline. [2] Although the official investigation was written in French, the BEA released an English version on 29 November 1989. Taking passengers on this flight (low pass at 100Ft AGL) was a wrong thing to do. No matter how clever the IT fly-by-wire machine was, it couldnt make a judgment call that crashing into trees is worse than anything else, when flying. Not with a planned coverup `` is guilty the pilot was sentenced to imprisonment for a! Partway, and the emergency escape slide began inflating while it was stuck partly inside fuselage... Cookie Notice and that 's a big systematic default a court in Colmar, in eastern,... Branches as the aircraft some big problems with the A320 's fly-by-wire.! 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