SAO PAULO — The search for the black boxes of the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean will likely continue for at least another 16 days, even though their audio beacons are likely fading away, an American military officer said Friday.
Brazilian and French searchers have recovered large chunks of debris and 51 bodies from Air France Flight 447, which disappeared with 228 people on board late May 31.
But experts say the black boxes may be key to deciding what brought the airliner down. And signals from the voice and data recorders begin to fade after about 30 days.
"We’ll have a better idea July 1 on how much longer we’ll go,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, the Brazil-based commander of the American military forces supporting the search operation.
He said the French and Brazilians will make the final decision on when to stop the hunt.
Berges said searchers were likely to keep going 12 to 15 days past the 30-day mark of the crash.
A French nuclear submarine and two French-contracted ships towing U.S. Navy listening devices are trolling a search area with a radius of 50 miles off Brazil’s northeastern coast where it is believed the plane crashed.
The black boxes send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1.25 miles away.
With the recorders still missing, accident investigators have focused on automated messages sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact.
One indicates the plane was receiving incorrect speed information from external instruments, which could destabilize the plane’s control systems. Experts have suggested those external instruments might have iced over.
Air France says it has now replaced the monitors, called Pitot tubes, on all its Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft.
by the associated press
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Showing posts with label Air France jet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air France jet. Show all posts
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Briton's body
A British oil worker has been confirmed as one of the bodies recovered after an Air France flight crashed into the Atlantic.
Brazilian authorities formally identified one of the 49 bodies recovered so far as Graham Gardner, 52, from Gourock, Inverclyde.
All 228 on board the Air France Airbus A330 died when the jet broke up during a flight to Paris from Rio in Brazil on June 1.
Mr Gardner was the master of a pipe-laying and construction vessel for the oil industry, owned by an Aberdeen-based Subsea 7. He worked one month on, one month-off in Brazil and was flying home to join his wife when tragedy struck. He was one of five Britons on the flight.
In a statement released by Subsea 7, his widow, Joyce, 51, said: "Although the finality of being told Graham is no longer with us was a shock, I feel relieved and grateful that we are now going to be able to bring Graham home where he belongs.
"As a family this will allow us to rebuild our lives, which is what Graham would have wanted. On behalf of the family, I would like to say thank you for all the support we have received from everyone who knew Graham, which has helped us get through this difficult time.
"The authorities have kept us informed every step of the way and we know the rescue teams have done all they possibly can but it has been the uncertainty of not knowing whether Graham's body would be found which has been hardest to deal with. I will miss Graham enormously."
Flight 447 disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean after entering a storm zone.
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash and are still searching for the flight data recorders.
More than 400 pieces of debris have been recovered from the sea.
by the press association
Brazilian authorities formally identified one of the 49 bodies recovered so far as Graham Gardner, 52, from Gourock, Inverclyde.
All 228 on board the Air France Airbus A330 died when the jet broke up during a flight to Paris from Rio in Brazil on June 1.
Mr Gardner was the master of a pipe-laying and construction vessel for the oil industry, owned by an Aberdeen-based Subsea 7. He worked one month on, one month-off in Brazil and was flying home to join his wife when tragedy struck. He was one of five Britons on the flight.
In a statement released by Subsea 7, his widow, Joyce, 51, said: "Although the finality of being told Graham is no longer with us was a shock, I feel relieved and grateful that we are now going to be able to bring Graham home where he belongs.
"As a family this will allow us to rebuild our lives, which is what Graham would have wanted. On behalf of the family, I would like to say thank you for all the support we have received from everyone who knew Graham, which has helped us get through this difficult time.
"The authorities have kept us informed every step of the way and we know the rescue teams have done all they possibly can but it has been the uncertainty of not knowing whether Graham's body would be found which has been hardest to deal with. I will miss Graham enormously."
Flight 447 disappeared from radar over the Atlantic Ocean after entering a storm zone.
Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash and are still searching for the flight data recorders.
More than 400 pieces of debris have been recovered from the sea.
by the press association
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Air France crash update
PARIS (AP) — Air France focused on aiding families of victims from the crash of Flight 447, offering a first advance on compensation on Friday while investigators worked quietly to solve the mystery of what brought the jet down.
The top European air safety agency said, meanwhile, there was not yet enough evidence to issue a mandatory recall of an external air speed monitor suspected of contributing to the disaster.
Air France chief executive Phillipe Gourgeon told RTL radio that the airline plans to make an advance of about euro17,500 ($24,400) for each of the 228 victims, with no strings attached.
He said it is also may hold a memorial for all the victims of the May 31 crash, Gourgeon said.
Some relatives of French victims have accused Air France of a lack of sympathy and of failing to keep them informed about the crash investigation.
But Gourgeon said the airline has had trouble even reaching some relatives of victims, who came from 32 countries. He said that sometimes the only contact number for a victim is from a mobile phone that was lost in the crash.
Investigators say an automated message sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact indicates it was receiving inconsistent speed readings from external monitors called Pitot tubes.
Air France has replaced the Pitot tubes on all its A330 and A340 aircraft, under pressure from pilots who feared a link to the accident.
But Daniel Hoeltgen, a spokesman for the Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency, said Friday there was not enough evidence to warrant a mandatory order that all airlines replace the part.
"We continue our technical evaluation, and we're looking to the accident investigation for further findings, but there will not be an air worthiness directive today," he said.
A Brazilian naval ship, meanwhile, arrived in the coastal city of Recife with a significant amount of debris and passengers' baggage, adding to hundreds of pieces of debris that experts are studying for clues to the cause of the accident.
Several of the chunks of wreckage were so large that a crane was needed to lift them off the ship.
In a joint statement, Brazil's navy and air force said that search crews recovered only debris on Friday.
Good weather on Friday aided searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries who are methodically scanning the Atlantic for signs of debris or flight recorders from the plane, which experts say may have broken up in the air after flying into thunderstorms.
French-chartered ships are pulling U.S. Navy underwater listening devices through a search area with a radius of 50 miles (80 kilometers), trying to detect the black boxes, now deep at sea, that might have the most detailed description of what happened to the plane.
by the associated press
The top European air safety agency said, meanwhile, there was not yet enough evidence to issue a mandatory recall of an external air speed monitor suspected of contributing to the disaster.
Air France chief executive Phillipe Gourgeon told RTL radio that the airline plans to make an advance of about euro17,500 ($24,400) for each of the 228 victims, with no strings attached.
He said it is also may hold a memorial for all the victims of the May 31 crash, Gourgeon said.
Some relatives of French victims have accused Air France of a lack of sympathy and of failing to keep them informed about the crash investigation.
But Gourgeon said the airline has had trouble even reaching some relatives of victims, who came from 32 countries. He said that sometimes the only contact number for a victim is from a mobile phone that was lost in the crash.
Investigators say an automated message sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact indicates it was receiving inconsistent speed readings from external monitors called Pitot tubes.
Air France has replaced the Pitot tubes on all its A330 and A340 aircraft, under pressure from pilots who feared a link to the accident.
But Daniel Hoeltgen, a spokesman for the Cologne, Germany-based European Aviation Safety Agency, said Friday there was not enough evidence to warrant a mandatory order that all airlines replace the part.
"We continue our technical evaluation, and we're looking to the accident investigation for further findings, but there will not be an air worthiness directive today," he said.
A Brazilian naval ship, meanwhile, arrived in the coastal city of Recife with a significant amount of debris and passengers' baggage, adding to hundreds of pieces of debris that experts are studying for clues to the cause of the accident.
Several of the chunks of wreckage were so large that a crane was needed to lift them off the ship.
In a joint statement, Brazil's navy and air force said that search crews recovered only debris on Friday.
Good weather on Friday aided searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries who are methodically scanning the Atlantic for signs of debris or flight recorders from the plane, which experts say may have broken up in the air after flying into thunderstorms.
French-chartered ships are pulling U.S. Navy underwater listening devices through a search area with a radius of 50 miles (80 kilometers), trying to detect the black boxes, now deep at sea, that might have the most detailed description of what happened to the plane.
by the associated press
Monday, June 15, 2009
Navy helps search for jet’s boxes
SAO PAULO — A Dutch ship towing a high-tech U.S. Navy listening device was set to troll the Atlantic on Sunday in search of data and voice recorders that investigators say are key to determining what caused an Air France jet to crash in the Atlantic with 228 people on board.
The Navy device, called a Towed Pinger Locator, will try to detect emergency audio beacons, or pings, from Flight 447’s black boxes, which could be thousands of feet below the ocean surface.
Without the recorders, it may be impossible to ever know what caused the Airbus A330 to crash off Brazil’s northeastern coast May 31.
The locator device is capable of searching to a depth of 20,000 feet. The first of two devices was towed in Sunday by a Dutch ship contracted by France, said U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, commander of the American military forces supporting the search operation.
Berges said the device would start operating as soon as searchers were sure it would not interfere with a French nuclear submarine already searching for the black boxes.
Another Dutch ship carrying a second listening device is scheduled to arrive no later than this morning, Berges said.
The ships will tow the locators in a grid pattern while 10-person teams watch for signals on computer screens, Berges said.
by the associated press
The Navy device, called a Towed Pinger Locator, will try to detect emergency audio beacons, or pings, from Flight 447’s black boxes, which could be thousands of feet below the ocean surface.
Without the recorders, it may be impossible to ever know what caused the Airbus A330 to crash off Brazil’s northeastern coast May 31.
The locator device is capable of searching to a depth of 20,000 feet. The first of two devices was towed in Sunday by a Dutch ship contracted by France, said U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, commander of the American military forces supporting the search operation.
Berges said the device would start operating as soon as searchers were sure it would not interfere with a French nuclear submarine already searching for the black boxes.
Another Dutch ship carrying a second listening device is scheduled to arrive no later than this morning, Berges said.
The ships will tow the locators in a grid pattern while 10-person teams watch for signals on computer screens, Berges said.
by the associated press
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Crash site might narrow search
RECIFE, Brazil — Searchers found two bodies and the first confirmed debris — a briefcase containing an Air France Flight 447 ticket — in the Atlantic Ocean near where the jet is believed to have crashed, a Brazil military official said Saturday.
The French agency investigating the disaster, meanwhile, said airspeed instruments were not replaced as the maker recommended before the plane disappeared in turbulent weather nearly a week ago during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard.
All were killed, the worst commercial air accident since 2001, and Air France’s deadliest plane crash.
The bodies of two male passengers were recovered Saturday morning about 45 miles south of where Air France Flight 447 emitted its last signals — northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil’s northern coast.
Brazilian air force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral said an Air France ticket was found inside a leather briefcase.
Admiral Edison Lawrence said the bodies were being transported to the Fernando de Noronha islands for identification.
In addition, a backpack with a laptop and a vaccination card also was recovered.
by the associated press
The French agency investigating the disaster, meanwhile, said airspeed instruments were not replaced as the maker recommended before the plane disappeared in turbulent weather nearly a week ago during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard.
All were killed, the worst commercial air accident since 2001, and Air France’s deadliest plane crash.
The bodies of two male passengers were recovered Saturday morning about 45 miles south of where Air France Flight 447 emitted its last signals — northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil’s northern coast.
Brazilian air force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral said an Air France ticket was found inside a leather briefcase.
Admiral Edison Lawrence said the bodies were being transported to the Fernando de Noronha islands for identification.
In addition, a backpack with a laptop and a vaccination card also was recovered.
by the associated press
Friday, June 5, 2009
Lucky Travelers missed doomed flight
PARIS — A reservation mix-up, an overbooking and a cabbie’s passion for soccer are all that separated some would-be passengers on Air France flight 447 from the fate of 228 others who lost their lives in the mid-Atlantic.
Andrej Aplinc was scheduled to take flight 447, but the 39-year-old arrived at Rio’s airport early Sunday because his cab driver was in a hurry to see a soccer match. His early arrival put him on an earlier Air France flight.
"It feels miraculous and sad at the same time,” said Amina Benouargha-Jaffiol, who also was scheduled to get on the flight Sunday night.
"Survivors’ syndrome,” seen often in combat and other crisis situations in which those who make it feel as though they fled, deserted their buddies or were cowardly, said psychiatrist Ronan Orio.
But being saved by the ticket counter, traffic or other caprices of life should not be considered traumatic, Orio said.
Instead, near-miss situations should be viewed in a positive light, he said.
"People who take a plane and have a second chance win the lotto,” the psychiatrist said.
by the associated press
Andrej Aplinc was scheduled to take flight 447, but the 39-year-old arrived at Rio’s airport early Sunday because his cab driver was in a hurry to see a soccer match. His early arrival put him on an earlier Air France flight.
"It feels miraculous and sad at the same time,” said Amina Benouargha-Jaffiol, who also was scheduled to get on the flight Sunday night.
"Survivors’ syndrome,” seen often in combat and other crisis situations in which those who make it feel as though they fled, deserted their buddies or were cowardly, said psychiatrist Ronan Orio.
But being saved by the ticket counter, traffic or other caprices of life should not be considered traumatic, Orio said.
Instead, near-miss situations should be viewed in a positive light, he said.
"People who take a plane and have a second chance win the lotto,” the psychiatrist said.
by the associated press
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Crash investigation looks at sensors
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Investigators trying to determine why Air France Flight 447 broke apart in a violent storm over the Atlantic are looking at the possibility that speed sensors — or an external instrument key to collecting speed data — failed in unusual weather, two aviation industry officials said Thursday.
Brazil's Navy and Air Force, meanwhile, issued statements saying that despite earlier reports by the military, no wreckage had been recovered from the Airbus A330, which went down off the country's northeastern coast, killing all 228 people aboard. It is the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001.
Officials with knowledge of the investigation and independent analysts all stressed they don't know why a plane that seemed to be flying normally crashed just minutes after the pilot messaged that he was entering an area of extremely dangerous storms.
They will have little to go on until they recover the plane's "black box" flight data and voice recorders, now likely on the ocean floor miles (kilometers) beneath the surface.
Other hypotheses — even terrorism — haven't been ruled out, though there are no signs of a bomb. Officials have said a jet fuel slick on the ocean's surface suggests there was no explosion.
Two officials told The Associated Press that investigators are looking at the possibility an external probe that measures air pressure may have iced over. The probe feeds data used to calculate air speed and altitude to onboard computers. Another possibility is that sensors inside the aircraft reading the data malfunctioned.
If the instruments were not reporting accurate information, the jet could have been traveling too fast or too slow as it entered turbulence from towering bands of thunderstorms, according to the officials.
"There is increasing attention being paid to the external probes and the possibility they iced over in the unusual atmospheric conditions experienced by the Air France flight," one of the industry officials explained to the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
Meteorologists said the Air France jet entered an unusual storm with 100 mph updrafts that acted as a vacuum, sucking water up from the ocean. The incredibly moist air rushed up to the plane's high altitude, where it quickly froze in minus-40 degree temperatures. The updrafts also would have created dangerous turbulence.
The jetliner's computer systems ultimately failed, and the plane broke apart likely in midair as it crashed into the Atlantic on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Sunday night.
Independent aviation experts said it is plausible that a problem with the external probe — called a "pitot tube" — or sensors that analyze data collected by the tube could have contributed to the disaster.
The tubes have heating systems to prevent icing. But if those systems somehow malfunctioned, the tubes could quickly freeze at high altitude in storm conditions, said the other industry official, who also was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Other experts outside the investigation said it is more likely that the sensors reading information from the tubes failed.
"When you have multiple system failures, sensors are one of the first things you want to look at," said John Cox, a Washington-based aviation safety consultant and former crash investigator for the Air Line Pilots Association.
Jetliners need to be flying at just the right speed when encountering violent weather, experts say — too fast and they run the risk of breaking apart. Too slow, and they could lose control.
"It's critical when dealing with these conditions of turbulence to maintain an appropriate speed to maintain control of the aircraft, while at the same time not over-stressing the aircraft," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
France's accident investigation agency has established that the series of automatic messages gave conflicting signals about the plane's speed, and that the flight path went through dangerously stormy weather. The agency warned against any "hasty interpretation or speculation" after the French newspaper Le Monde reported, without naming sources, that the Air France plane was flying at the wrong speed.
Two buoys — standard emergency equipment on planes — were spotted Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean about 340 miles (550 kilometers) northeast of Brazil's northern Fernando de Noronha islands by a helicopter crew, which was working off a Brazilian navy ship.
Among other debris spotted Wednesday and Thursday were a 23-foot (seven-meter) chunk of plane, an airline seat and several large brown and yellow pieces that probably came from inside the plane, military officials said.
Confusion broke out after the Air Force announced Thursday afternoon that a helicopter plucked an airplane cargo pallet from the sea that came the Air France flight, but then said six hours later that it was not from the Airbus.
The pallet was made of wood, and the plane was not carrying wooden pallets, Brazilian Air Force Gen. Ramon Cardoso told reporters. He did not say where the pallet might have come from.
"So far, nothing from the plane has been recovered," Cardoso said.
Air France's CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told family members at a private meeting that the plane disintegrated, either in the air or when it slammed into the ocean, and there were no survivors, according to Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, a grief counselor who was asked by Paris prosecutors to help counsel relatives.
More than 500 people packed the historic Candelaria church in the center of Rio de Janeiro Thursday for a Mass for the victims.
With the crucial flight recorders still missing, investigators were relying heavily on the plane's automated messages to help reconstruct what happened as the jet flew through thunderstorms.
The last message from the pilot was a manual signal at 11 p.m. local time Sunday saying he was flying through an area of black, electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that come with violent winds and lightning.
At 11:10 p.m., a cascade of problems began: the autopilot had disengaged, a key computer system switched to alternative power, and controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged. An alarm sounded indicating the deterioration of flight systems. Then, systems for monitoring air speed, altitude and direction failed. Controls over the main flight computer and wing spoilers failed as well. At 11:14 p.m., a final automatic message signaled loss of cabin pressure and complete electrical failure as the plane was breaking apart.
The pilot of a Spanish airliner flying nearby at the time reported seeing a bright flash of white light plunging to the ocean, said Angel del Rio, spokesman for the Spanish airline Air Comet.
The pilot of the Spanish plane, en route from Lima, Peru to Madrid, said he heard no emergency calls.
France's defense minister and the Pentagon have said there were no signs that terrorism was involved.
"We have no evidence, we have no proof, we don't know," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kochner said after he was asked about the possibility of a bomb. "Is it possible? I mean to look at an explosion? Yes it is. It is one of the hypotheses."
by the assosiated press
Brazil's Navy and Air Force, meanwhile, issued statements saying that despite earlier reports by the military, no wreckage had been recovered from the Airbus A330, which went down off the country's northeastern coast, killing all 228 people aboard. It is the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001.
Officials with knowledge of the investigation and independent analysts all stressed they don't know why a plane that seemed to be flying normally crashed just minutes after the pilot messaged that he was entering an area of extremely dangerous storms.
They will have little to go on until they recover the plane's "black box" flight data and voice recorders, now likely on the ocean floor miles (kilometers) beneath the surface.
Other hypotheses — even terrorism — haven't been ruled out, though there are no signs of a bomb. Officials have said a jet fuel slick on the ocean's surface suggests there was no explosion.
Two officials told The Associated Press that investigators are looking at the possibility an external probe that measures air pressure may have iced over. The probe feeds data used to calculate air speed and altitude to onboard computers. Another possibility is that sensors inside the aircraft reading the data malfunctioned.
If the instruments were not reporting accurate information, the jet could have been traveling too fast or too slow as it entered turbulence from towering bands of thunderstorms, according to the officials.
"There is increasing attention being paid to the external probes and the possibility they iced over in the unusual atmospheric conditions experienced by the Air France flight," one of the industry officials explained to the AP, speaking on condition of anonymity because he isn't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly.
Meteorologists said the Air France jet entered an unusual storm with 100 mph updrafts that acted as a vacuum, sucking water up from the ocean. The incredibly moist air rushed up to the plane's high altitude, where it quickly froze in minus-40 degree temperatures. The updrafts also would have created dangerous turbulence.
The jetliner's computer systems ultimately failed, and the plane broke apart likely in midair as it crashed into the Atlantic on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Sunday night.
Independent aviation experts said it is plausible that a problem with the external probe — called a "pitot tube" — or sensors that analyze data collected by the tube could have contributed to the disaster.
The tubes have heating systems to prevent icing. But if those systems somehow malfunctioned, the tubes could quickly freeze at high altitude in storm conditions, said the other industry official, who also was not authorized to discuss the investigation.
Other experts outside the investigation said it is more likely that the sensors reading information from the tubes failed.
"When you have multiple system failures, sensors are one of the first things you want to look at," said John Cox, a Washington-based aviation safety consultant and former crash investigator for the Air Line Pilots Association.
Jetliners need to be flying at just the right speed when encountering violent weather, experts say — too fast and they run the risk of breaking apart. Too slow, and they could lose control.
"It's critical when dealing with these conditions of turbulence to maintain an appropriate speed to maintain control of the aircraft, while at the same time not over-stressing the aircraft," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
France's accident investigation agency has established that the series of automatic messages gave conflicting signals about the plane's speed, and that the flight path went through dangerously stormy weather. The agency warned against any "hasty interpretation or speculation" after the French newspaper Le Monde reported, without naming sources, that the Air France plane was flying at the wrong speed.
Two buoys — standard emergency equipment on planes — were spotted Thursday in the Atlantic Ocean about 340 miles (550 kilometers) northeast of Brazil's northern Fernando de Noronha islands by a helicopter crew, which was working off a Brazilian navy ship.
Among other debris spotted Wednesday and Thursday were a 23-foot (seven-meter) chunk of plane, an airline seat and several large brown and yellow pieces that probably came from inside the plane, military officials said.
Confusion broke out after the Air Force announced Thursday afternoon that a helicopter plucked an airplane cargo pallet from the sea that came the Air France flight, but then said six hours later that it was not from the Airbus.
The pallet was made of wood, and the plane was not carrying wooden pallets, Brazilian Air Force Gen. Ramon Cardoso told reporters. He did not say where the pallet might have come from.
"So far, nothing from the plane has been recovered," Cardoso said.
Air France's CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told family members at a private meeting that the plane disintegrated, either in the air or when it slammed into the ocean, and there were no survivors, according to Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, a grief counselor who was asked by Paris prosecutors to help counsel relatives.
More than 500 people packed the historic Candelaria church in the center of Rio de Janeiro Thursday for a Mass for the victims.
With the crucial flight recorders still missing, investigators were relying heavily on the plane's automated messages to help reconstruct what happened as the jet flew through thunderstorms.
The last message from the pilot was a manual signal at 11 p.m. local time Sunday saying he was flying through an area of black, electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that come with violent winds and lightning.
At 11:10 p.m., a cascade of problems began: the autopilot had disengaged, a key computer system switched to alternative power, and controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged. An alarm sounded indicating the deterioration of flight systems. Then, systems for monitoring air speed, altitude and direction failed. Controls over the main flight computer and wing spoilers failed as well. At 11:14 p.m., a final automatic message signaled loss of cabin pressure and complete electrical failure as the plane was breaking apart.
The pilot of a Spanish airliner flying nearby at the time reported seeing a bright flash of white light plunging to the ocean, said Angel del Rio, spokesman for the Spanish airline Air Comet.
The pilot of the Spanish plane, en route from Lima, Peru to Madrid, said he heard no emergency calls.
France's defense minister and the Pentagon have said there were no signs that terrorism was involved.
"We have no evidence, we have no proof, we don't know," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kochner said after he was asked about the possibility of a bomb. "Is it possible? I mean to look at an explosion? Yes it is. It is one of the hypotheses."
by the assosiated press
Victims of Air France crash
PARIS — The lilting voices of the Air France choir resounded throughout Notre Dame Cathedral on Wednesday as grieving families and others honored the victims of the flight that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, government officials and Air France employees were among those at the packed ecumenical service in the cathedral at the geographical center of Paris.
Mgr. Andre Vingt-Trois read a message of condolence from Pope Benedict XVI, then cited a passage from "The Little Prince” evoking the ephemeral character of life as he learns that his flower must die. The popular book was written by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery, whose own airplane disappeared over the Mediterranean on a reconnaissance flight in 1944.
In memory of those aboard Flight 447, 228 candles were lit "as a sign of their presence in the absence,” Vingt-Trois said.
Flight 447 disappeared with 12 crew members and 216 passengers from 32 nations on board, including 61 people from France. The Sunday night flight was bound for Paris from Rio de Janeiro when all contact was lost after it hit fierce storms over the Atlantic.
Air France employee Jean-Marc Jaouen said the service to honor the dead gave succor to the living.
"All of this, it’s hard, it’s incomprehensible, it could have happened to all of us. So we’re all here to show that we all love each other, we’re all present, a last tribute,” he told Associated Press Television News.
As the cathedral overflowed, hundreds paid their respects on the esplanade in front of the church’s elaborate facade of carved angels, saints and gargoyles.
Some were not ready to attend a service. Fabrice Monteiro, the brother of one victim, said the homage came too soon.
"The family doesn’t have time to do internal grieving before having to grieve in public,” he said.
by the associated press
President Nicolas Sarkozy, first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, government officials and Air France employees were among those at the packed ecumenical service in the cathedral at the geographical center of Paris.
Mgr. Andre Vingt-Trois read a message of condolence from Pope Benedict XVI, then cited a passage from "The Little Prince” evoking the ephemeral character of life as he learns that his flower must die. The popular book was written by French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery, whose own airplane disappeared over the Mediterranean on a reconnaissance flight in 1944.
In memory of those aboard Flight 447, 228 candles were lit "as a sign of their presence in the absence,” Vingt-Trois said.
Flight 447 disappeared with 12 crew members and 216 passengers from 32 nations on board, including 61 people from France. The Sunday night flight was bound for Paris from Rio de Janeiro when all contact was lost after it hit fierce storms over the Atlantic.
Air France employee Jean-Marc Jaouen said the service to honor the dead gave succor to the living.
"All of this, it’s hard, it’s incomprehensible, it could have happened to all of us. So we’re all here to show that we all love each other, we’re all present, a last tribute,” he told Associated Press Television News.
As the cathedral overflowed, hundreds paid their respects on the esplanade in front of the church’s elaborate facade of carved angels, saints and gargoyles.
Some were not ready to attend a service. Fabrice Monteiro, the brother of one victim, said the homage came too soon.
"The family doesn’t have time to do internal grieving before having to grieve in public,” he said.
by the associated press
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Debris tell's the story crash of Air France Flight 447
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil (AP) — An airplane seat, a fuel slick and pieces of white debris scattered over three miles of open ocean marked the site in the mid-Atlantic on Tuesday where Air France Flight 447 plunged to its doom, Brazil's defense minister said.
Brazilian military pilots spotted the wreckage, sad reminders bobbing on waves, in the ocean 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of these islands off Brazil's coast. The plane carrying 228 people vanished Sunday about four hours into its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
"I can confirm that the five kilometers of debris are those of the Air France plane," Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters at a hushed news conference in Rio. He said no bodies had been found and there was no sign of life.
The effort to recover the debris and locate the all-important black box recorders, which emit signals for only 30 days, is expected to be exceedingly challenging.
"We are in a race against the clock in extremely difficult weather conditions and in a zone where depths reach up to 7,000 meters (22,966 feet)," French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told lawmakers in parliament Tuesday.
Brazilian military pilots first spotted the floating debris early Tuesday in two areas about 35 miles (60 kilometers) apart, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral. The area is not far off the flight path of Flight 447.
Jobim said the main debris field was found near where the initial signs were spotted.
The cause of the crash will not be known until the black boxes are recovered — which could take days or weeks. But weather and aviation experts are focusing on the possibility of a collision with a brutal storm that sent winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) straight into the airliner's path.
"The airplane was flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) northeast and the air is coming at them at 100 mph," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity. "That probably started the process that ended up in some catastrophic failure of the airplane."
Towering Atlantic storms are common this time of year near the equator — an area known as the intertropical convergence zone. "That's where the northeast trade winds meet the southeast trade winds — it's the meeting place of the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere's weather," Margusity said.
But several veteran pilots of big airliners said it was extremely unlikely that Flight 447's crew intended to punch through a killer storm.
"Nobody in their right mind would ever go through a thunderstorm," said Tim Meldahl, a captain for a major U.S. airline who has flown internationally for 26 years, including more than 3,000 hours on the same A330 jetliner.
Pilots often work their way through bands of storms, watching for lightning flashing through clouds ahead and maneuvering around them, he said.
"They may have been sitting there thinking we can weave our way through this stuff," Meldahl said. "If they were trying to lace their way in and out of these things, they could have been caught by an updraft."
The same violent weather that might have led to the crash also could impede recovery efforts.
"Anyone who is going there to try to salvage this airplane within the next couple of months will have to deal with these big thunderstorms coming through on an almost daily basis," Margusity said. "You're talking about a monumental salvage effort."
Remotely controlled submersible crafts will have to be used to recover wreckage settling so far beneath the ocean's surface. France dispatched a research ship equipped with unmanned submarines that can explore as deeply as 19,600 feet (6,000 meters).
A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion surveillance plane — which can fly low over the ocean for 12 hours at a time and has radar and sonar designed to track submarines underwater — and a French AWACS radar plane are joining the operation.
France also has three military patrol aircraft flying over the central Atlantic, two commercial ships reached the floating debris, and Brazilian navy ships were en route.
Even at great underwater pressure, the black boxes "can survive indefinitely almost," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia.
"They're very rugged and sophisticated, virtually indestructible."
Voss said he expected the recovery process to go quickly.
"I'm hoping they'll have stuff up in a month, if not just a few weeks," he said.
Rescuers were still scanning a vast sweep of ocean. If no survivors are found, it would be the world's worst civil aviation disaster since the November 2001 crash of an American Airlines jetliner in the New York City borough of Queens that killed 265 people.
Investigators have few clues to help explain what brought the Airbus A330 down. The crew made no distress call before the crash, but the plane's system sent an automatic message just before it disappeared, reporting lost cabin pressure and electrical failure.
Brazilian officials described a three-mile strip of wreckage, and have refused to draw any conclusions about what that pattern means. But Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington, D.C., and former accident investigator for airlines and aircraft manufacturers, said it could indicate the Air France jetliner came apart before it hit the water.
A debris field of that length that is strung out in a rough line rather than in a circle, especially when an airplane comes down from a high altitude, "typically indicates it didn't come down in one piece," Casey said. "But it doesn't have to be a jillion little pieces. It can come down in three or four main pieces, and then the ocean drift takes care of the rest."
Casey cautioned it's possible, although less likely, that the plane did not break apart and spread of the debris field is due entirely to ocean drift. Since the disaster happened in violent weather, thunderstorms and deep ocean swells could have scattered the debris during the 32 hours that passed before it was spotted on Tuesday.
"The big thing to understand right now is we don't know," said Casey, chief operation officer of Safety Operating Systems LLB. "These are tough airplanes. They don't just come apart."
Associated Press writers Alan Clendenning in Sao Paulo; Marco Sibaja in Brasilia; Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C.; and Angela Charlton, Emma Vandore, Jean-Pierre Verges and Laurent Joan-Grange in Paris contributed to this report.
by the associated press
Brazilian military pilots spotted the wreckage, sad reminders bobbing on waves, in the ocean 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of these islands off Brazil's coast. The plane carrying 228 people vanished Sunday about four hours into its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
"I can confirm that the five kilometers of debris are those of the Air France plane," Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters at a hushed news conference in Rio. He said no bodies had been found and there was no sign of life.
The effort to recover the debris and locate the all-important black box recorders, which emit signals for only 30 days, is expected to be exceedingly challenging.
"We are in a race against the clock in extremely difficult weather conditions and in a zone where depths reach up to 7,000 meters (22,966 feet)," French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told lawmakers in parliament Tuesday.
Brazilian military pilots first spotted the floating debris early Tuesday in two areas about 35 miles (60 kilometers) apart, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral. The area is not far off the flight path of Flight 447.
Jobim said the main debris field was found near where the initial signs were spotted.
The cause of the crash will not be known until the black boxes are recovered — which could take days or weeks. But weather and aviation experts are focusing on the possibility of a collision with a brutal storm that sent winds of 100 mph (160 km/h) straight into the airliner's path.
"The airplane was flying at 500 mph (800 km/h) northeast and the air is coming at them at 100 mph," said AccuWeather.com senior meteorologist Henry Margusity. "That probably started the process that ended up in some catastrophic failure of the airplane."
Towering Atlantic storms are common this time of year near the equator — an area known as the intertropical convergence zone. "That's where the northeast trade winds meet the southeast trade winds — it's the meeting place of the southern hemisphere and the northern hemisphere's weather," Margusity said.
But several veteran pilots of big airliners said it was extremely unlikely that Flight 447's crew intended to punch through a killer storm.
"Nobody in their right mind would ever go through a thunderstorm," said Tim Meldahl, a captain for a major U.S. airline who has flown internationally for 26 years, including more than 3,000 hours on the same A330 jetliner.
Pilots often work their way through bands of storms, watching for lightning flashing through clouds ahead and maneuvering around them, he said.
"They may have been sitting there thinking we can weave our way through this stuff," Meldahl said. "If they were trying to lace their way in and out of these things, they could have been caught by an updraft."
The same violent weather that might have led to the crash also could impede recovery efforts.
"Anyone who is going there to try to salvage this airplane within the next couple of months will have to deal with these big thunderstorms coming through on an almost daily basis," Margusity said. "You're talking about a monumental salvage effort."
Remotely controlled submersible crafts will have to be used to recover wreckage settling so far beneath the ocean's surface. France dispatched a research ship equipped with unmanned submarines that can explore as deeply as 19,600 feet (6,000 meters).
A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion surveillance plane — which can fly low over the ocean for 12 hours at a time and has radar and sonar designed to track submarines underwater — and a French AWACS radar plane are joining the operation.
France also has three military patrol aircraft flying over the central Atlantic, two commercial ships reached the floating debris, and Brazilian navy ships were en route.
Even at great underwater pressure, the black boxes "can survive indefinitely almost," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia.
"They're very rugged and sophisticated, virtually indestructible."
Voss said he expected the recovery process to go quickly.
"I'm hoping they'll have stuff up in a month, if not just a few weeks," he said.
Rescuers were still scanning a vast sweep of ocean. If no survivors are found, it would be the world's worst civil aviation disaster since the November 2001 crash of an American Airlines jetliner in the New York City borough of Queens that killed 265 people.
Investigators have few clues to help explain what brought the Airbus A330 down. The crew made no distress call before the crash, but the plane's system sent an automatic message just before it disappeared, reporting lost cabin pressure and electrical failure.
Brazilian officials described a three-mile strip of wreckage, and have refused to draw any conclusions about what that pattern means. But Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington, D.C., and former accident investigator for airlines and aircraft manufacturers, said it could indicate the Air France jetliner came apart before it hit the water.
A debris field of that length that is strung out in a rough line rather than in a circle, especially when an airplane comes down from a high altitude, "typically indicates it didn't come down in one piece," Casey said. "But it doesn't have to be a jillion little pieces. It can come down in three or four main pieces, and then the ocean drift takes care of the rest."
Casey cautioned it's possible, although less likely, that the plane did not break apart and spread of the debris field is due entirely to ocean drift. Since the disaster happened in violent weather, thunderstorms and deep ocean swells could have scattered the debris during the 32 hours that passed before it was spotted on Tuesday.
"The big thing to understand right now is we don't know," said Casey, chief operation officer of Safety Operating Systems LLB. "These are tough airplanes. They don't just come apart."
Associated Press writers Alan Clendenning in Sao Paulo; Marco Sibaja in Brasilia; Joan Lowy in Washington, D.C.; and Angela Charlton, Emma Vandore, Jean-Pierre Verges and Laurent Joan-Grange in Paris contributed to this report.
by the associated press
Experts say, Planes are built for lightning
BRUSSELS, Beglium — The lightning and turbulence that may have hit an Air France jet flying from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris are rarely the cause of plane crashes, analysts say. But they note that rough weather may have triggered malfunctions that led to the disappearance of the jetliner.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse suggested the plane could have been struck by lightning.
But most experts say lightning doesn’t usually bring down a modern airliner, unless it coincides with other factors that contribute to the accident.
"Planes are built with lightning strikes in mind and are struck reasonably frequently,” said Patrick Smith, a U.S. commercial pilot and aviation writer.
"I’ve been hit by lightning in my career a number of times, which at worst resulted in a superficial mark on the outside of the plane,” Smith said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Aviation safety statistics indicate that each large passenger jet is struck by lightning about once every three years on average.
Although lightning may have been a contributing factor in a handful of accidents since World War II, only one major crash was attributed directly to a strike. In 1963, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 exploded in midair when its fuel tank fumes were ignited by lightning.
by the associated press
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse suggested the plane could have been struck by lightning.
But most experts say lightning doesn’t usually bring down a modern airliner, unless it coincides with other factors that contribute to the accident.
"Planes are built with lightning strikes in mind and are struck reasonably frequently,” said Patrick Smith, a U.S. commercial pilot and aviation writer.
"I’ve been hit by lightning in my career a number of times, which at worst resulted in a superficial mark on the outside of the plane,” Smith said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Aviation safety statistics indicate that each large passenger jet is struck by lightning about once every three years on average.
Although lightning may have been a contributing factor in a handful of accidents since World War II, only one major crash was attributed directly to a strike. In 1963, a Pan American World Airways Boeing 707 exploded in midair when its fuel tank fumes were ignited by lightning.
by the associated press
Crews search for French jet, 228 aboard
RIO DE JANEIRO — The search could not be more daunting — military jets and boats looking for an Air France plane with 228 people aboard that flew beyond the reach of radar and went missing somewhere in the middle of the vast Atlantic Ocean.
Brazilian officials said the area where they think the jet went down is so remote the first military boats may not arrive there until Wednesday morning.
Air force jets from France and Brazil were crisscrossing the ocean Monday, but have yet to spot anything.
Air France Flight 447, a 4-year-old Airbus A330, left Rio about 7 p.m. local time Sunday with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, and flew for more than three hours before leaving the Brazilian coast. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the jet as it was entering a band of violent thunderstorms and turbulence that stretched along the equator.
If no survivors are found, it will be the worst air disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed after takeoff from JFK Airport into the New York City borough of Queens, killing 265.
Brazil’s military said its search was focused on a stretch of ocean 680-745 miles northeast of Natal, the area where the plane was when it sent an automated message reporting electrical system failure and a loss of pressure.
by the associated press
Brazilian officials said the area where they think the jet went down is so remote the first military boats may not arrive there until Wednesday morning.
Air force jets from France and Brazil were crisscrossing the ocean Monday, but have yet to spot anything.
Air France Flight 447, a 4-year-old Airbus A330, left Rio about 7 p.m. local time Sunday with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, and flew for more than three hours before leaving the Brazilian coast. Air traffic controllers lost contact with the jet as it was entering a band of violent thunderstorms and turbulence that stretched along the equator.
If no survivors are found, it will be the worst air disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines Airbus A300 crashed after takeoff from JFK Airport into the New York City borough of Queens, killing 265.
Brazil’s military said its search was focused on a stretch of ocean 680-745 miles northeast of Natal, the area where the plane was when it sent an automated message reporting electrical system failure and a loss of pressure.
by the associated press
Monday, June 1, 2009
Search for Air France jet
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 1 (UPI) -- French and Brazilian military aircraft and ships searched the Atlantic Ocean Monday for wreckage of a missing Air France jetliner with 228 people on board.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said chances of finding survivors from the missing Air France jetliner with 216 passengers and 12 crew aboard were "very low," CNN reported.
"This is a catastrophe the likes of which Air France has never seen before," Sarkozy told reporters at Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport, where he had met with relatives of the missing aboard the flight from Rio de Janeiro. "I said the truth to them: the prospects of finding survivors are very low."
Officials said the vastness of the search area and the uncertainty about the time when the Airbus 330-200 went down complicated search-and-rescue efforts, The Guardian said. Brazilian teams concentrated on an area north of Fernando de Noronha, an island about 200 miles off the Brazilian coast, while the French military combed the west Atlantic near the Cape Verde islands hundreds of miles away.
Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France chief executive officer, said search teams also would focus on an area of a few dozen nautical miles roughly midway between Brazil and Africa, the British newspaper said. French officials also asked the U.S. for satellite data to help with the search.
The plane likely was the victim of a "huge catastrophe," Gourgeon said, adding that electrical problems and turbulence also were reported.
The jet had sent out a warning it had lost pressure, the Brazilian Air Force said. It lost contact with air traffic control between Galeao International Airport in Rio de Janeiro and the destination airport in Paris, Air France said.
The plane sent out an automatic signal warning of the electrical problems as it flew "far from the coast" after entering a stormy area with strong turbulence, an Air France spokeswoman said.
Air France said 61 passengers were French and 58 were Brazilians, the BBC reported. Brazilian authorities said 26 Germans were on board, along with nine Chinese, nine Italians, six Swiss, five British, five Lebanese, four Hungarians, three Irish, three Norwegians, three Slovaks, two Americans, two Moroccans and individuals from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Demark, the Netherlands, Estonia, the Philippines, The Gambia, Iceland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey, the BBC said.
The nationalities and other details of the 12 crew members were not available, the BBC said.
from upi.com
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said chances of finding survivors from the missing Air France jetliner with 216 passengers and 12 crew aboard were "very low," CNN reported.
"This is a catastrophe the likes of which Air France has never seen before," Sarkozy told reporters at Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport, where he had met with relatives of the missing aboard the flight from Rio de Janeiro. "I said the truth to them: the prospects of finding survivors are very low."
Officials said the vastness of the search area and the uncertainty about the time when the Airbus 330-200 went down complicated search-and-rescue efforts, The Guardian said. Brazilian teams concentrated on an area north of Fernando de Noronha, an island about 200 miles off the Brazilian coast, while the French military combed the west Atlantic near the Cape Verde islands hundreds of miles away.
Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, Air France chief executive officer, said search teams also would focus on an area of a few dozen nautical miles roughly midway between Brazil and Africa, the British newspaper said. French officials also asked the U.S. for satellite data to help with the search.
The plane likely was the victim of a "huge catastrophe," Gourgeon said, adding that electrical problems and turbulence also were reported.
The jet had sent out a warning it had lost pressure, the Brazilian Air Force said. It lost contact with air traffic control between Galeao International Airport in Rio de Janeiro and the destination airport in Paris, Air France said.
The plane sent out an automatic signal warning of the electrical problems as it flew "far from the coast" after entering a stormy area with strong turbulence, an Air France spokeswoman said.
Air France said 61 passengers were French and 58 were Brazilians, the BBC reported. Brazilian authorities said 26 Germans were on board, along with nine Chinese, nine Italians, six Swiss, five British, five Lebanese, four Hungarians, three Irish, three Norwegians, three Slovaks, two Americans, two Moroccans and individuals from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Demark, the Netherlands, Estonia, the Philippines, The Gambia, Iceland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey, the BBC said.
The nationalities and other details of the 12 crew members were not available, the BBC said.
from upi.com
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