Air France Flight 447 captain not in the cockpit

The flight recorders from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic in June 2009, reveal that the captain was not in the cockpit when the aircraft began its fateful descent. Instead, the plane’s two co-pilots were at the controls. Pilots on long flights often take turns at the controls to rest and remain alert. The revelation comes as part of the ongoing crash investigation being conducted by the French agency, BEA. The flight recording devices were recently recovered from the bottom of the ocean. They also indicated that the plane had stalled numerous times as the co-pilots were maneuvering through heavy clouds. The Air France flight was travelling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people onboard were killed.