Thierry Dubois is a freelance writer specializing in helicopters, business aviation and aerospace technology. He earned a degree in fluid dynamics from an engineering school in Toulouse, France in the mid-1990s. At an unexpected crossroads, he found his first job in journalism. In 1997, he started working for French aerospace weekly Air &amp; Cosmos in Paris. This lasted until 2000, when he moved south to Lyons. He then became a freelancer, working for various aerospace publications and has been part of the AIN team since late 2000. In addition to writing about business aviation, Thierry shares responsibility for the rotorcraft section. He also is a regular on-site writer for AIN’s daily editions at international airshows such as the Paris, Farnborough, Dubai and Singapore shows, as well as at EBACE in Geneva.
In 2007, he won the Honeywell award for “Best systems or technology submission” at the Aerospace journalist of the year awards. In 2013, he won an Aerospace Media Award for the "Best Safety, Training &amp; Simulation Submission."
In other activities, Thierry moderates international conferences on aviation technology topics. Thierry is married and has three children, who seem to begin enjoying the mountains–as their parents do.

Writer

Thierry Dubois

The November 2008 crash of an Airbus A320 into the Mediterranean Sea off Perpignan, France, was mainly due to the pilots’ improvisation of procedures during an “operational flight check,” leading to a heavy workload that prevented the crew from seeing that two angle-of-attack sensors were jammed, according to France’s investigation bureau BEA. The final report reveals that the two probes ingested water during a rinsing operation conducted, without proper protection, by Perpignan-based EAS Industries maintenance technicians. The water froze at altitude, causing the XL Airways crew, in the presence of an Air New Zealand pilot, to lose control of the aircraft, killing all seven on board.
XL Airways was giving back the aircraft to Air New Zealand at the end of a leasing agreement. The latter airline, which owned the A320, had requested the flight. Such “acceptance” flights, however, are not defined in any official document. The procedures the crew eventually followed were improvised from Airbus demonstration flights. Regional air traffic control rejected the crew’s request for maneuvers because it was inconsistent with the flight plan. The pilots thought they had adequately informed local ATC but conducted the checks along the lines of the flight plan.
While conducting a low-speed check during approach, the pilots did not realize some inconsistency in speed indications. The blocked probes caused flight envelope protection to fail. When the aircraft stalled, the pilots did not perceive that the flight control laws had switched to direct mode, and therefore did not perform the appropriate actions needed to recover the aircraft to normal flight.

Accident A320 Crew Did Not Notice Jammed AOA Probes

The November 2008 crash of an Airbus A320 into the Mediterranean Sea off Perpignan, France, was mainly due to the pilots’ improvisation of procedures durin

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