Investigators Hope Recovered Flight Data and Cockpit Voice Recorders Shed More Light on AF447 Crash

Airbus, Air France and many others, both within and outside the aerospace industry, eagerly await the results of an analysis of the flight data and cockpit

The AF447's cockpit voice recorder lay on the seabed before search teams identified it and lifted to the surface, two days after the flight data recorder. (Photo: BEA)

By Thierry Dubois • Writer

May 9, 2011

Airbus, Air France and many others, both within and outside the aerospace industry, eagerly await the results of an analysis of the flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the Air France A330-200 that crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 aboard. Search teams located and recovered Flight 447’s FDR and CVR from the seabed between May 1 and 3, after a tantalizing search. The French minister of transports hinted that investigators could know “part of the truth” by late this month.

However, it remains unclear whether the recorders’ memory units still hold the needed data after spending almost two years on the seabed. A Remora 6000 remotely operated vehicle grasped the CVR from the bottom of the ocean, then lifted it from about 13,000 feet under the surface to the cable-laying ship Ile-de-Sein, on May 3. Two days before, it did the same with the FDR.

The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background. The rest of this article continues for AIN Members with the full report, analysis and background.

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