How fast did Air France 447 hit the water?

[02:14:25] Robert: We are dead! [02:14:26] Dubois: Ten degrees of pitch! At 2:14 and 28.4 seconds, Air France Flight 447 crashes into the Atlantic Ocean with a final nose angle of 16.2 degrees, speed reading of 152 knots, and with a vertical speed of 10,912 feet per minute (which is roughly 102 knots).



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Official statistics also offer some comfort. U.S. government data revealed that 95.7 percent of the passengers involved in airplane accidents between 1983 and 2000 survived. Even in the most serious crashes -- 26 in that period -- over half lived.

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Among 99 known cases of wheel-well stowaways from 1947 through June 6, 2013, there were 76 fatalities and 23 survivors. It is possible there are additional undocumented cases of successful surviving wheel-well stowaways escaping the aircraft undetected possibly with outside assistance.

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Some passengers may suffer permanent brain damage that prevents them from working or living independently. Broken bones. Even a so-called minor accident can cause extremely painful fractures in a passenger's hands, feet, arms, legs, or ribs. Back injuries.

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On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330 serving the flight. They failed to recover the plane from the stall, and the plane ended up crashing into the Atlantic Ocean at 02:14 UTC, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board.

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