Investigators find cockpit voice recorder from 2009 Air France flight

2011-05-04 04:55:11 GMT+7 (ICT)

PARIS (BNO NEWS) -- French investigators on Tuesday were able to recover the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) of Air France flight 447, which crashed in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 during a scheduled flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, only three days after they located and recovered the aircraft's black box.

France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) said an investigation team localized and identified the CVR Monday night at 9:50 p.m. Paris time. The CVR was later lifted on board the Ile de Sein by the Remora 6000 ROV at 2:40 a.m. Tuesday morning.

On Sunday, the memory unit of the flight data recorder (FDR) was located in the ocean at noon and appeared to be in good condition. The recoveries of the FDR, or black box, and the CVR could finally give investigators the information they need to figure out what caused the crash of flight 447, almost two years later after the incident.

Last week, a twelve-hour long search of the ocean floor near waypoint TASIL led to the discovery of the chassis of the plane's FDR. But as the crash survivable memory unit was missing, it was of no use to investigators.

Millions of euros have been spent on search efforts, and Air France and Airbus have reportedly spent 9.2 million euros ($13 million) on the current fourth sea search.

Initial investigations have stated that the accident could have been caused by malfunction of the airplane's speed sensors (Pitot tubes), which would have resulted in inaccurate airspeed data. Others have also said the airline failed to respond quickly to the reports.

On June 1, 2009, an Airbus A330-200 jetliner operated by Air France as Flight 447 and on route from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France crashed near waypoint TASIL in the Atlantic Ocean around three and a half hours after taking off.

Five days after the crash, search and rescue teams recovered two bodies and floating debris from the aircraft. Only 51 bodies were recovered after the search was called off on June 27, 2009.

Due to the location of the accident, no eyewitnesses exist and the aircraft's black boxes had not been located, which are key in the investigations into the accident.

After several failed search operations in the 17,000 square kilometers (6,600 square miles) area, Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon had announced that search efforts for the aircraft's wreckage and black boxes would resume in March.

In early April, the aircraft's wreckage was found during the fourth sea search, which was funded by Air France and Airbus. The recovery gave investigative teams renewed hope to understand the causes of the accident.

The crash marked Air France's deadliest, and BEA chief Paul-Louis Arslanian called the incident the worst accident in French aviation history.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-04

BBC NEWS - IMPORTANT NEWS ABOUT THIS CRASH

16 May 2011 Last updated at 11:52 GMT

Air France Rio crash: Black box recorder data 'intact'

Flight recordings from an Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009 have been preserved and are readable, French investigators have said.

They said the material from the voice and data recorders, retrieved earlier this month off the Brazilian coast, will now be analysed.

The readings include the last two hours of the cockpit voice recordings.

All 228 people on board were killed in the disaster.

"Following operations to open, extract, clean and dry the memory cards from the flight recorders, BEA safety investigators were able to download the data over the weekend," the BEA air investigation agency said in a statement.

"These downloads gathered all of the data from the flight data recorder, as well as the whole recording of the last two hours of the flight from the cockpit voice recorder."

Summer report

Continues:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13412061

LaoPo

http://www.bea.aero/fr/enquetes/vol.af.447/info16mai2011.en.php

Straight from the horses mouth; Data has been downloaded and awaits analysing now.