True, in normal flight its ice at altitude. Storms do throw a wrench into the works. Or in this case, plug the holes. Still, odd that there wouldn't be something to compensate for that eventuality.


Had a situation flying a cherrokee and a semi blocked tube once. Doing touch n goes and it was a bit nippy with low clouds and drizzle. Was back in the day when I was first starting out. The instructor knew what was happening as the indicator started creeping towards the low end. He let me crank up the throttle a couple times before cluing me in on what was really happening. A bit un nerving when you realize how something so simple can end up being a major disaster.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories...ld/main5129458.shtml

LE BOURGET, France, July 2, 2009

Air France Jet Not Destroyed In Air
Report Says Flight 447 Fell Vertically Into Atlantic Ocean Of Brazilian Coast

(AP) Last updated 10:02 a.m. EDT

A French investigator says Air France Flight 447 did not break up in flight but plunged vertically into the Atlantic Ocean.

Alain Bouillard, leading the investigation into the June 1 crash for the French accident investigation agency BEA, also says life vests found among the wreckage of the plane were not inflated.

Bouillard also said speed sensors were a factor but were not the cause of the crash.

He said the sensors, called Pitot tubes, were not the only factor.

He said "it is an element but not the cause."

One of the automatic messages emitted by the plane indicates it was receiving incorrect speed information from the external monitoring instruments, which could destabilize the plane's control systems. Experts have suggested those external instruments might have iced over.

All 228 people aboard the plane were killed when it plunged into the ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Bouillard said at a news conference outside Paris on Thursday that the search for the plane's black boxes has been extended by 10 days and will continue through July 10.

Every source I read today said it crashed into the ocean belly first. So, no signs it broke up before going down. So sad. Always been my worst nightmare too. I can't think of many worse ways of dying than being conscious and going down in a plane. RIP for all the victims of this horrible tragedy.