Air France crash maybe caused by weather-linked technical failure: expert

Pierre Sparaco, a member of the French Air and Space Academy, said an accident was more likely to occur when the aircraft was taking off or landing, compared with the period of cruise aviation. The disappearance of the Airbus A330 during its cruise aviation should rule out the possibility of man-made factors that caused few accidents during this period of flying, Pierre said. According to the limited information available up to now, the incident was most probably caused by a technical failure, which maybe be closely connected with the bad weather, the expert added. Commenting on the aircraft's lightning equipment, Pierre said the Airbus A330 has a high capability of avoiding lightning as it has a metal body. Even an aircraft was hit by lightning and lost its power, the emergency turbo engine could generate enough electricity to maintain the basic operation of the plane, he said. Brazil on Tuesday confirmed the debris found earlier on the open Atlantic Ocean belonged to Air France Flight 447, solidifying the crash of the jet that went missing early Monday, Kazinform cites Xinhua. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.