An Airbus A320-232 was undergoing a series of functional checks required by a lease agreement when it stalled and descended into the Mediterranean Sea near Perpignan, France, the afternoon of Nov. 27, 2008. The airplane was destroyed, and all seven occupants were killed. In a final report published in September 2010, the French Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses (BEA) said that the flight crew was not aware that the angle-of-attack sensors had been blocked by ice. They lost control of the airplane while performing low-speed checks at a relatively low altitude.
Among the factors that contributed to the accident was the flight crew’s lack of training and experience in performing functional check flights, the report said.1 Investigators also found that the angle-of-attack sensors had not been shielded properly when the airplane was rinsed to remove accumulated dust, which resulted in water entering at least two of the three sensors and …
