Pilot error, faulty equipment to blame for Air France plane crash

In France, investigators presented their final report Thursday on Air France flight 447, which crashed in to the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Brazil to France three years ago.

All 228 people on board were killed. The report blames a series of pilot errors.

CNN International's Richard Quest reports.

Final Air France crash report says pilots failed to react swiftly

A series of errors by pilots and a failure to react effectively to technical problems led to the crash of Air France Flight 447, France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis said Thursday in its final report on the disaster.

The Brazil-to-France flight plunged into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

The report details how the pilots failed to respond effectively to problems with the plane's speed sensors or to correct its trajectory when things first started to go wrong.

When ice crystals blocked the plane's pitot tubes, which are part of a system used to determine air speed, the autopilot disconnected and the pilots did not know how to react to what was happening, the report said.

"The occurrence of the failure in the context of flight in cruise completely surprised the crew of flight AF 447," the report said.

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