Air France released information on the flight crew in their 7th press release.
Flight Deck
The Captain was 58, French. He/She entered Air France in 1988 and was qualified on the Airbus A330/A340 in February 2007. The Captain had 11,000 flying hours, which included 1,700 hours on the Airbus A330/340.
The 2 co-pilots were French. They were 37 and 32 years old. They started working for Air France in 1999 and 2004. They were qualified on the Airbus A330/340 in April 2002 and June 2008. The first co-pilot had 6,600 flying hours which included 2,600 hours on the Airbus A330/340. The second co-pilot had a total of 3,000 flying hours which included 800 hours on the Airbus A330/340.
Cabin Crew
The Chief purser was French, 49, and entered Air France in 1985. The two other pursers were French, 54 and 46 years old and entered Air France in 1981 and 1989.
There were 6 stewards and stewardesses on board. 5 of them where French and 1 was Brazilian. They were between the ages of 24 and 44 years old and they started working for Air France between 1996 and 2007.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
For those of us who have friends at Air France , could we have their names please, or do we have to telephone ?
Hello Carolyn,
Air France has not released the names yet. Once released, it will be posted here.
Dear all…i’m so deeply sorry for this great loss.
I’m cabin crew, and God knows what they’ve been through.
peace be with them souls, God bless us all who fly.
I can’t believe it!!! My boss on this plane. A nice South Korean man. I still hope that he will come back on the new few days. God bless him!!!
Korean Among Missing in Air France Crash Ku Hak-rim One Korean passenger was aboard Air France flight AF447, which vanished while crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to France carrying 228 passengers and crew on Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday.
Airbus A330-200 was carrying 216 passengers and a dozen crew when it disappeared Sunday night.
Ku Hak-rim (39), the head of the Vietnamese affiliate of a Seoul shipping company, was on a business trip. He had been living in Vietnam since he was named the head of the Vietnamese firm in March 2007, and frequently visited Brazil and France on business trips. He leaves behind a wife, seven-year-old son and six-year-old daughter in Vietnam.
Source: http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/06/03/2009060300807.html
Thanh,
I’m so sorry to hear about your boss. My family also had someone on the plane that we knew and we are all devastated.
I’m sorry to all of you that knew someone on this plane. It is a tragedy and our hearts go out to you all
As a flight attendant I have imagined over and over what these passengers and crew must have gone through…I hate flying through areas of thunderstorms and severe low pressure wind storms and icing conditions. I wish our airline companies would play a bigger part in hiring more meteorolegists in working with dispatch. Keeping a closer eye on the weather throughout the flight instead of just before a departure. Its time life meant more than temporary profits and On time departures. Of course that wont change this outcome or every crash but it would comfort us a little more knowing we arent just a number! May those who lost loved ones remember the good memories, remembering how they added something positive to our lives and not be lost in pain and sorrow…
As Airline staff I cannot stop replaying what could have gone wrong that night. I have been on many turbulent flights and its not easy. It seems a bit of a mystery that they so date (06 june) have not found any debris.
I hope they are able to recover the black box and learn from whatever happened.
May god be with all the friends and family
As a flight attendant, this is my worst nightmare, and can’t stop thinking about it. I try not to think about it during my next flight when we fly over the ocean.
My heart goes out to all the loved ones of the crew and the passengers. I hope it happened fast and they weren’t afraid.
May God be with them.
As as a former flight attendant with TWA this brings back all the feelings around our flight 800 years ago. I can only imagine the frustration and fear the Air France crews are going through today. Seeing everyone pictured outside Notre Dame reminded me of all the memorials in New York- St. Patricks, etc. I hate this so much for everyone involved. I hope our colleagues at AF know that they are sourrounded by care and part of a larger family of aircrew will help in any way possible. My prayers and wishes of healing to all.
Steven -JetBlue, JFK
I used take flight and really imagine how much those on board facing such hard time. may good bless those are on board.
there is nothing much to comment, but wanted to plead a big hope to the airlines company SHOULD consider many aspects that involved the safetyness of the passengers to be the TOP once.
I agree with one of the posts above - it really is about more than just on time departures and timely landings. Airlines really need to take a hard look at their priorities. So what if the flight took a route that was 500 miles longer than the shortest? Do airlines even care that turbulence can really scare their passengers? I am actually disgusted by the thought that while the weather can not be changed, the route can be, yet airlines encourage the shortest route, regardless of the dangers they may bring. May God bless all those who perished and the ones they left behind.
I think we should be more carefull,its really abnormal that till now we haven’t found anything.
For me I think we should go for a highjack,
maybe they switched off the transponder to stop communication and they sent those warning alarms to simulate problems.
Why did the autopilot disengaged?For me someone did it and took control of the plane and landed somewhere.
I think we should be careful,maybe they are planning to use the plane for something else.
God bless all those who lost their lives on AF447. I cant’t possibly imagine what their family and friends are all going through. May piece be with you all x
I feel very sorry for what happen to the
victims and families of flight 447 and what there have been trough in this moments but there has also been a crew on this air plain .In the media they never talk about the crew that much only the passengers and I think this should also be talked of .
I HOPE THAT WE NEVER EXPERIENCE THIS KIND OF DISASTER AGAIN. GOD BLESS ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THIS TERRIBLE ACCIDENT!!!
I agree with one of the posts above - it really is about more than just on time departures and timely landings. Airlines really need to take a hard look at their priorities. So what if the flight took a route that was 500 miles longer than the shortest? Do airlines even care that turbulence can really scare their passengers? I am actually disgusted by the thought that while the weather can not be changed, the route can be, yet airlines encourage the shortest route, regardless of the dangers they may bring. May God bless all those who perished and the ones they left behind.
Just saw this on the WTOP-TV website:
“The head of the cabin crew was Anne Grimout of Ermenonville, France, a 49-year-old who had worked for Air France for nearly 25 years, the pilot union official said.”
Ermenonville was the site, in 1974, of the worst air disaster to that date, the crash of a Turkish Airlines DC-10 which killed 345 passengers and crew.
Accident cause as an Auto- Pilot or a on-board computer failure!
These same type of accidents have been occurring worldwide and will continue, unless the true cause is recognised and the proper pilot training is initiated!
The pilots are instinctively reacting to a weather induced, strong, updraft, which rersults in an abrupt nose high attitude transition!
This mechanical(no flight control input) maneuver is completely unexpected by the pilot and he reacts by shoving the nose back down, to avoid what he considers to be a possible stall threat.
It is this maneuver that projects the unbelted passengers, in the rear of the aircraft into the ceiling.(longer moment arm, from the center of gravity)
We cannot blame the pilots as they have not been advised of this problem, because the Aviation Industry itself, is not aware of this phenomena!
GOD BLESS ALL WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THIS TERRIBLE ACCIDENT!!!
we all around the world are very concern about this tragedy, I can´t imagine the great pain for their families, just God will be able to help. Great concern about all our friends that were traveling on flught 447 and suddenly they are not with us now. There is also hope that those recovery bodies are from one of our relative or friends at least.