Jonathan's Retirement Blog

As a pilot with experience flying the Airbus 330, the news that the plane went into the ocean intact, gives me and should give air travelers some comfort. My point is not to comment on the cause of the terrible accident but to address the integrity of the Airbus 330 and 340 which have the same airframe. The pilots had reported turbulence, and it is only speculation about the intensity, but had the airplane broken up in flight, imagine passengers thoughts when next encountering moderate turbulence in airplanes that are increasingly manufactured from lighter and lighter materials in the continuing effort to reduce fuel consumption.