Air France AF447 crash into the Atlantic: Airbus A330 aircraft parts found

[Treeper]

a little bit new info on the recovery of the plane. also some new pictures (at least I haven't see 'em yet), in Dutch.: http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland ... rash.dhtml

[smokejumper]

See:

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/20 ... ssing.html

[stratofreighter]

Bugger... This mystery may never be entirely solved now

[RC20]

Misleading headline. figures

A lot going on as they are keeping a completely tight lid on what they have found. Suspect they want to get all the bodies before anything else is released (any photos will then be clear of bodies)

Grab what they can while doing that, and then maybe we will get to see what they have actually found, where its at.

Other parts will have data recorded as well. Some of it probably more helpful that cockpit. Whats really needed to unravel is video recorders. Then you see what pilots see, and what they actually did.

With the FDRs, they always want more info because nothing was conclusive.

[sn26567]

Reuters just announced that the French BEA air crash investigation unit has located the APU of AF447, but is not recovering debris yet, as priority is to find the black boxes in the Atlantic Ocean.

[fcw]

Memory unit of the flight recorder found!
http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/vol.af. ... eduite.jpg

[sn26567]

Flight AF447 flight recorder retrieved: statement by Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of AIR FRANCE KLM

"Air France has been informed by the French Accident & Investigation Bureau that a flight recorder (black box) from the Airbus A330, operating the Rio-Paris-Charles de Gaulle flight which disappeared over the Atlantic on 1 June 2009, has been found and retrieved.

This new step in the investigation is very significant as it may provide additional information as to the causes of this accident that remain unexplained to this day.

We hope that the BEA, in charge of the technical investigation, will be able to provide answers to questions that relatives of the victims, Air France and the entire airline industry have been asking for nearly two years as to why this tragic accident occurred.

On behalf of Air France, I would like to thank not only the authorities who have continued to employ unprecedented means for this search, but also the crew of the Ile de Sein ship as well."

Air France press release, Sunday 1 May 2011

Tom Enders on AF447 black box discovery

"we are excited by the news and we hope that the data is still readable.Only this will contribute to understand the events that lead to the accident.

We are pleased to have over the last two years pushed to continue the investigation and the search no matter what the cost and efforts."

Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO

Airbus press release 2 May 2011

[Passenger]

CVR has now also been recovered.

"... On May 3rd 2011 the French BEA located and recovered the complete cockpit voice recorder from the ocean floor. Both black boxes will now be taken to Cayenne (French Guyana) by a French Navy's patrol boat, from where the recorders will be flown to Paris, where the recorders are expected to arrive in 10 days..."

Source and photo's : The Aviation Herald :
http://avherald.com/h?article=41a81ef1/0053

[sn26567]

CVR has now also been recovered.

Original text from BEA: http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/vol.af. ... 011.en.php

The investigation team localized and identified the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) at 21h50 UTC on Monday 2 May, 2011. It was raised and lifted on board the ship Ile de Sein by the Remora 6000 ROV at 02 h 40 UTC this morning, on Tuesday 3rd May, 2011.

[Boavida]

This is a scary story.

I really want to know how it's possible that a modern Airbus, flown by a Western company, could crash in the middle of the ocean without any warning...

[regi]

This is a scary story.

I really want to know how it's possible that a modern Airbus, flown by a Western company, could crash in the middle of the ocean without any warning...

A SAM rocket launched from a submarine.
Oops, I did it again. Referring to conspiracy theories and so on.
But we had several such "accidents" in the past already:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincennes_incident

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberia_Ai ... light_1812

[sn26567]

Statement by Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of AIR FRANCE KLM

"Air France has been informed by the BEA, (Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses pour la sécurité de l’aviation civile) the French body responsible for technical investigations into civil aviation accidents or incidents, that a second flight recorder (Cockpit Voice Recorder) from the Airbus A330 operating the Rio-Paris-Charles de Gaulle flight which disappeared over the Atlantic on 1 June 2009, has been located and retrieved.

Coming only hours after the first black box was brought up, this announcement is yet another decisive step forward in the inquiry and we must thank the BEA and the authorities for persevering in this arduous search. This justifies the unprecedented means employed by the authorities, Airbus and Air France since the tragedy took place.

This new step in the investigation is very significant as it may provide additional information as to the causes of this accident that remain unexplained to this day.

On behalf of Air France it is my heartfelt hope that the data contained in these flight recorders may be used and provide answers to questions that relatives of the victims, Air France and the entire airline industry have been asking for nearly two years about why this tragic accident occurred."

Air France press release, Tuesday 3 May 2011

[RC20]

Memory units found and CVR recovered intact apparently.

Its incredible that they are finding such small items in a field of wreckage.

I hope the whole story comes out soon. Bodies are being kept quiet and I appreciate the sensitivity and dignity this is providing to the families, some of who wanted to leave the remains where they were..

[regi]

not the cause by Airbus after investigation of flight recorders.
But strangely no explanation ( yet) of possible cause.
Imagine that my ludicrous cause of a submarine launched rocket becomes true...
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/960/Buitenland ... tuig.dhtml

[galaxy]

Only in French :

Vol AF447 : les enquêteurs demandent à la presse de ne pas faire dans le sensationnalisme.
le Bureau d'enquêtes et d'analyses (BEA) a tenu à mettre les choses au clair : "Sacrifier au sensationnalisme en publiant des informations non validées alors que l'exploitation des données des enregistreurs de vol ne fait que commencer est une atteinte au respect des passagers et des membres d'équipage décédés" insiste le BEA dans un communiqué.

"A ce stade de l'enquête aucune conclusion ne peut être tirée" explique cette insistance officielle qui a en sa possession les boîtes noires. Au dementi apporté aux informations du Figaro, s'ajoute une sorte de rappel à l'ordre : "toute information sur l'enquête provenant d'une autre source est nulle et non avenue si elle n'a pas été validée par le BEA".
S'ils assurent ne pas douter que "toute la lumière va pouvoir être faite sur cet accident", ses dirigeants insistent sur le fait que les enquêteurs doivent maintenant "analyser et valider de multiples informations". Et le BEA confirme qu'il ne publiera pas de rapport intérimaire avant l'été".

http://www.latribune.fr/actualites/econ ... lisme.html

No conclusion at this time. Report will not be published before the summer.

[regi]

But that is less news than the news that the cause is not by Airbus.
Why should the media abstain from reporting untill an agency submits its final report, if 1 cause can already be scrapped from the list of possebilities?

[Duke]

I know we'd better not open too many topics about the same subject.
But Iin this case, as there's such an important evolution about the recovery of the black boxes, I think a new topic would be justified about the results of the investigation.
Do the moderators have the same idea?

Regards,

Duke

[Desert Rat]

"Following underwater search campaigns and subsequent operations, the Digital Flight Data Recorder
(DFDR) and Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) were recovered.

Data extraction of both recorders have been performed at the BEA facilities in the presence of two German investigators from BFU, an American investigator from NTSB, two British investigators from AAIB and two Brazilian investigators from CENIPA, as well as an officer from the French judicial police and a court expert.

Data from DFDR and CVR have been successfully downloaded.

At this stage of the preliminary analysis of DFDR Airbus has no immediate recommendation to raise to operators.

Further update will be provided as soon as new significant information becomes available or as soon as Airbus will be authorized to share more information in compliance with investigation rules."

[earthman]

It might well be that the data shows that they figured out the cause correctly two years ago (airspeed sensor), and given that that problem is supposedly fixed, they don't have any new recommendations at this moment.

[andorra-airport]

Black Boxes Point to Pilot Error

The pilots of an Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean two years ago apparently became distracted with faulty airspeed indicators and failed to properly deal with other vital systems, including adjusting engine thrust, according to people familiar with preliminary findings from the plane's recorders.

The final moments inside the cockpit of the twin-engine Airbus A330, these people said, indicate the pilots seemingly were confused by alarms they received from various automated flight-control systems as the plane passed through some turbulence typical on the route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. They also faced unexpectedly heavy icing at 35,000 feet. Such icing is renowned for making airspeed-indicators and other external sensors unreliable.

Ultimately, despite the fact that primary cockpit displays functioned normally, the crew failed to follow standard procedures to maintain or increase thrust and keep the aircraft's nose level, while trouble-shooting and waiting for the airspeed sensors and related functions to return to normal, according to these people.

Slated to be disclosed by investigators on Friday, the sequence of events captured on the recorders is expected to highlight that the jet slowed dangerously shortly after the autopilot disconnected. The pilots almost immediately faced the beginning of what became a series of automation failures or disconnects related to problems with the plane's airspeed sensors, these people said.

The crew methodically tried to respond to the warnings, according to people familiar with the probe, but apparently had difficulty sorting out the warning messages, chimes and other cues while also keeping close track of essential displays showing engine power and aircraft trajectory.

Spokesmen for Air France, a unit of Air France-KLM, and Airbus, a unit of European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., have declined to comment on any details of the investigation. Airbus last week, however, issued a bulletin reassuring airlines that the preliminary readout of the recorders hasn't prompted any "immediate recommendation" regarding the safety of the global A330 fleet. French investigators, who gave the green light for that statement, also have said their preliminary findings don't highlight any major system failures or malfunctions that could have caused the fatal dive.

The Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 41512.html