On 31 May 2009, the Airbus A330 flight AF 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro Galeão airport bound for Paris Charles de Gaulle. At around 2 h 02, the Captain left the cockpit for a short nap. At around 2 h 08, at flight level 350, the crew made a course change of 12 degrees to the left, to avoid bad weather.

At 2h 10min 05, likely following the obstruction of the Pitot probes by ice crystals, the speed indications were incorrect and some automatic systems disconnected. The aeroplane's flight path was not controlled by the two copilots. They were rejoined 1 minute 30 later by the Captain, while the aeroplane was in a stall situation that lasted until the impact with the sea at 2 h 14 min 28 s, killing all 228 persons on board. It took almost two years to recover the wreck of the aircraft from a depth of 4.000 metres.

The accident resulted from a succession of events, such as inconsistency between the measured airspeeds, inappropriate control inputs, and the crew's failure to diagnose the stall situation