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.

The worst and most infamous crash involving an Airbus A330 was Air France Flight 447, which occurred on June 1, 2009. The aircraft was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board when it disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean during a storm. The tragedy was caused by a combination of technical failure and pilot error. The aircraft's pitot tubes (speed sensors) became obstructed by ice crystals, causing the autopilot to disconnect and providing inconsistent airspeed readings to the cockpit. The flight crew, confused by the conflicting data and the sudden loss of automated systems, inadvertently stalled the aircraft. Because they were flying in darkness and extreme weather, they failed to recognize the stall and maintained a nose-up input that prevented the plane from recovering. The A330 plunged into the ocean, killing everyone on board. The search for the "black boxes" took nearly two years, eventually leading to significant changes in pilot training regarding high-altitude stalls and the introduction of more resilient speed sensors across the global aviation industry. This remains a definitive case study in the complexities of man-machine interface in modern fly-by-wire aircraft.