An investigation team scouring the wreckage of the recently discovered 2009 Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic, recovered the memory unit of the flight data recorder (so-called black box) May 1, the French air-accident investigation bureau (BEA) said in a statement.
Air France flight 447 was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, June 1, 2009, when it was caught in a high-altitude thunderstorm and crashed off the northeastern coast of Brazil. All 228 passengers and 12 crewmembers on board died in what some consider France’s worst aviation accident.
After a long search and three failed attempts, the wreckage along with corpses were discovered April 4 at a depth of 9,800 feet, using a robotic submarine capable of operating in deep waters.
Families of the victims, investigators, and Air France are hopeful that the information on the black box can help explain the cause of the crash. A friend of one of those killed wrote on a website dedicated to the accident, “The world needs to know what caused Flight 447 to crash. I’m very happy that all parties involved were persistent and never gave up. Hopefully we will learn the true answer soon.”
It will probably be about a week before the data can be processed and new information known, according to reports.
There are concerns that the data may have been damaged by extreme pressure after nearly two years on the ocean floor. The head of BEA Jean-Paul Troadec was cautiously optimistic and said that the recording device was “in good shape,” according to Aviation Week.
Air France flight 447 was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, June 1, 2009, when it was caught in a high-altitude thunderstorm and crashed off the northeastern coast of Brazil. All 228 passengers and 12 crewmembers on board died in what some consider France’s worst aviation accident.
After a long search and three failed attempts, the wreckage along with corpses were discovered April 4 at a depth of 9,800 feet, using a robotic submarine capable of operating in deep waters.
Families of the victims, investigators, and Air France are hopeful that the information on the black box can help explain the cause of the crash. A friend of one of those killed wrote on a website dedicated to the accident, “The world needs to know what caused Flight 447 to crash. I’m very happy that all parties involved were persistent and never gave up. Hopefully we will learn the true answer soon.”
It will probably be about a week before the data can be processed and new information known, according to reports.
There are concerns that the data may have been damaged by extreme pressure after nearly two years on the ocean floor. The head of BEA Jean-Paul Troadec was cautiously optimistic and said that the recording device was “in good shape,” according to Aviation Week.
