The AF 447 disaster and the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly
On the night of June 1, 2009, a twin-engine Airbus A330 plane, of the French company Air France, (flight AF 447), was flying with 228 people on board, in the South Atlantic, on a north-east route. He had left a few hours earlier from Rio de Janeiro and his final destination was the city of Paris.
The last message received by the Brazilian air traffic control system dates back to 1.33 AM (UTC), when the plane approached the edge of the Brazilian-controlled air zone. After approximately forty minutes, the Senegalese control towers received a series of automatic messages indicating numerous anomalies and malfunctions, including significant damage to the electrical system. These strange messages indicate that, from 2.10 to 2.14 AM (UTC), there were 5 failures and 19 anomalies on board.
It is thought that the plane crashed into the sea after a few moments.
Unfortunately there were no survivors. As of July 6, some bodies and remains of the plane were found, 1090 km north-east of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. The searches ended on June 27. In all, 51 bodies and various parts of the plane were recovered.
To date the black box has never been found, but in May 2010 it was reported that it should be located in a limited area of 5 square miles, at the bottom of the ocean, at about 3000 meters depth.
Among the possible causes of the accident there would be a series of failures in the electrical system and the speed control system (Pitot tubes). During the flight of an aircraft, speed is a very important factor, which allows the aircraft to sustain itself in flight (lift). For unknown reasons yet to be ascertained, the Pitot tubes could have indicated a speed lower or higher than the actual one, and this could have caused the plane to stall or disintegrate respectively.
What could have caused this series of strange anomalies?
Some satellite images show that in fact the Airbus A330 crossed, in the last 100 kilometers of its flight, an area of sky where a strong storm was underway, which may have caused very strong turbulence and the freezing of some parts of the plane, including Pitot tubes.
The strange thing is that these types of storms are well known by pilots, who generally fly around them. Is it likely that expert pilots, driving an aircraft in perfect condition, decided to slip into such a dangerous storm?
For now it is not possible to clearly prove what the causes of this disaster were, but it is interesting to analyze one of the strangest hypotheses that would explain the tragedy.
According to some independent researchers, the causes of the disaster are to be found in the so-called "South Atlantic magnetic anomaly", an area of the Ocean where the lower part of the Van Allen belts (a set of charged particles or donut-shaped "plasma" surrounding the Earth), is very close to the surface of the sea. In this area the radiation intensity of the Van Allen belt is much higher than in other areas of the Earth's surface.
The Van Allen belts, which according to various scientists are caused by the collision of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field, constitute a serious danger for artificial satellites, as they can damage photovoltaic panels, integrated circuits and sensors. In fact, a project was proposed by the physicist Robert Forward to limit the radioactive influence of the Van Allen belts, but so far it has not been completed.
In the International Space Station, which passes through the anomaly periodically, additional shielding had to be adopted to protect from radiation.
The fact that the Earth's magnetic field is inclined by 11 degrees with respect to the Earth's rotation axis means that the innermost part of the Van Allen belts is closer and further away from the Earth's surface, respectively on the South Atlantic, and over the North Pacific Ocean.
The South Atlantic magnetic anomaly, which was discovered starting in the late 1950s, does not have constant dimensions, but appears to be expanding towards the north-east. It extends approximately from the equator to the latitude of -50 degrees south and from the longitude of 90 degrees west to 40 degrees east.
Could the intensity of the radiation from the Van Allen belts precisely in the place where the anomaly is located have caused the series of malfunctions that occurred on the night of June 1, 2009 on the Air France plane?
Could the strong radiation have caused intense disorientation of the pilots of AF flight 447, similar to what happened on December 5, 1945 to the pilots of squadron 19, who disappeared in the sky of the Bahamas due to an alleged magnetic anomaly of unknown origins?
According to some researchers, the expansion of the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly could be a secondary factor in an upcoming magnetic reversal of the planet.
In fact, it has been proven that the Earth's magnetic field is decreasing for unknown causes, and this could be a sign of a forthcoming magnetic reversal. There is evidence indicating that in the last two thousand years the magnetic field has decreased by more than 50%, and even in the last century the decrease does not seem to have stopped.
In fact we know that the Earth's magnetic field is not constant over time, but undergoes variations in intensity and direction.
Some geological evidence has proven that there were various magnetic reversals in the past. The last one, which occurred 780,000 years ago, was called the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal (some researchers, however, maintain that the catastrophe known as the "universal flood", which caused the end of the glaciation, which occurred in 9500 BC, was caused by a magnetic reversal or alternatively, by a change in the Earth's geographical axis following the fall of a meteorite).
The magnetic inversion could totally cancel out the Earth's magnetic field for a period of about a century. What repercussions could this have for life on Earth?
Less or no shielding against the solar wind could lead to a strong thinning of the ozone layer and greater penetration of ultraviolet radiation.
While according to some scientists the damage to the ecosystem and to humans would be limited to an alarming increase in tumors, skin diseases and an increase in infertility in all living beings, for other researchers the problems for the Earth would be much more serious.
In fact, there is a current of thought that claims that magnetic inversions are related to the beginning (or end, as in the case of the flood) of periods of glaciation.
Even if official science identifies the causes of glaciations in the variations of the Milankovitch cycles, in the variation in the composition of the Earth's atmosphere (in turn influenced by volcanic and meteorite activity), and in the activity of the Sun, some researchers maintain that the glaciations may be consequential to magnetic reversals.
The study of magnetic reversals compared to the chronological study of the various glaciations that have occurred in the last million years suggests that there is an interdependence between the two events.
If further studies confirm that the Earth's magnetic field is weakening rapidly, it could be argued that there will be an imminent magnetic reversal.
For now we cannot say with certainty whether the magnetic inversion will cause the next glaciation, in any case it is hoped that further studies will clarify the consequences of this event.
As regards the AF 447 flight disaster, if it can be proven that the magnetic anomaly of the South Atlantic influenced the causes of the accident, it would be appropriate to think about providing the aircraft flying through it with appropriate additional shielding of the equipment on board, in order to avoid further misfortunes.
YURI LEVERATTO
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