Manuel Garcia, Jr. - The loss of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-200 has raised many doubts among the flying public and even some aviation professionals about the safety of the newest generation of passenger airplanes. These new airliners have composite materials replacing metal for many structural elements and control surfaces, and they are reliant on computer-controlled flight and navigation systems. The impetus for developing this new generation of airliners is the need to improve fuel economy so as to...