Béarn had a useful 180-by-27-meter flight deck, but access to it depended on three incompatible lift designs. Each elevator served a different aircraft category and imposed a different capacity or cycle time, with the slowest taking about five minutes. Clamshell covers added weight and machinery so aircraft could cross the deck while a lift was down, then jammed often enough to help force a reconstruction. The broad deck could not compensate for slow elevators or an upper hangar narrowed by the stores and workshops needed because the lower level was so difficult to use.
Chapter · 44:28-53:55
Béarn's three incompatible aircraft lifts
Béarn combined three differently sized lifts, clamshell flight-deck covers, and cycle times of roughly three to five minutes into an operational bottleneck.