Mystery jet crash data recovered, investigators say (Air France data from recorders)

[RamboLiberal]

Source: CNN

Paris (CNN) -- Investigators trying to determine why an Air France plane crashed mysteriously two years ago have recovered the complete contents of the flight data recorder and the last two hours of cockpit conversation, they announced Monday.

It will take several weeks to analyze the data, French air accident experts said.

All 228 people aboard Air France 447 were killed when the Airbus A330 belly-flopped into the ocean June 1, 2009, in stormy weather. The cause of the crash is still not known.

Discovering that there was data on the recorders "is excellent news. It is really going to help us work out what happened on that plane," said Martine Del Bono, spokeswoman for France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA).



Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/05/16/france.jet.crash/index.html?hpt=T2

---

Amazing! Great job! And kudos to the recorders designers! Hope it will provide the complete answers!

[Blue_Tires]

1. good news...

man...that thing was built to last...

[cosmicone]

2. By logic, the cause has already been determined

as failure of the Pitot tubes from ice formation followed by pilot error in not setting the correct speed and elevation to maintain flight.

However, this data will be useful to confirm that.

[RamboLiberal]

3. Still the crew factor will be interesting in finding out what crew knew

was happening and their efforts to understand and/or correct. And their discussions of the storm they were flying through.

[makhno]

4. The human factors part of the report should be interesting

Hopefully the report will go beyond the immediate actions of the flight crew and address broader training/cultural issues within the airline and the air transport business.

Amazing job by the BEA and other parties in locating the wreckage and recovering the recorders. Props to Honeywell, too.

[Blue_Tires]

5. We'll see...There is supposed to be an announcement in a day or two...

[RamboLiberal]

6. Article says several weeks to analyze the data

Which is what I'd expect.

[Blue_Tires]

7. No immediate A330 concern from crash probe-sources

May 17 (Reuters) - Airbus (EAD.PA) has told airlines a partial examination of black boxes recovered from a plane that crashed in the Atlantic has not led to any immediate new safety recommendations, sources familiar with the matter said.

The update is not based on a complete understanding of data recovered from the wreckage of an Air France (AIRF.PA) A330, which plunged into the ocean killing 228 people in 2009, but indicates no immediate safety concern over mechanical systems.

"At this stage of the preliminary analysis of the DFDR (digital flight data recorder), Airbus has no immediate recommendation to raise to operators," the European planemaker said in an industry bulletin obtained by Reuters.

Airbus declined to comment.

France's BEA crash investigation authority warned earlier it was too early to jump to conclusions about what caused the crash, but said it was confident that the cause of one of the world's worst plane disasters would ultimately be found.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/france-brazil-airbus-idUSWEA174720110517