Accidents
AF447 Investigators Prep for A330 Wreck Recovery, Question Previous Searches
Investigators from the French BEA (Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses) are preparing to recover the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, the
Search teams found large pieces of the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 at the bottom of the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil on April 3. Photo credit: BEA
Search teams found large pieces of the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 at the bottom of the South Atlantic off the coast of Brazil on April 3. Photo credit: BEA

Investigators from the French BEA (Bureau d’Enquetes et d’Analyses) are preparing to recover the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, the remains of which search crews found on April 3. All 228 aboard the Airbus A330-200 flying from Rio to Paris died when it crashed on June 1, 2009.

The Ile de Sein, a ship supplied by Alcatel-Lucent Submarine Networks (ASN) and equipped with a remotely operated vehicle provided by Phoenix International, will leave Cape Verde to start the recovery phase of the operation on April 21. The BEA will give priority to finding and recovering the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. “Phase 5” might last until mid-June.