Before its 2009 crash into the Atlantic, the crew of Air France Flight 447 reacted with confusion and misread data from faulty sensors, according to an interim report from France's accident investigation agency.
The flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people aboard.
Ice-blocked speed sensors caused the autopilot on the Airbus A330 plane to shut down. The report, which was shared with members of the victims families Wednesday, says the crew acted improperly.
Instead of dropping the plane's nose to regain lift, the co-pilot pulled the plane in a steep climb, causing it to stall.
When the autopilot shut down the crew was also dealing with bad weather, noisy alarms and questionable speed readings. In addition, two co-pilots were in the cockpit when the trouble began while the captain was on a rest break.
Involuntary manslaughter charges have been filed against Paris-based Air France and Airbus, the maker of the plane.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Bloomberg.