No 25 - AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447 SEARCH REPORT
PRESS RELEASE 25 (10/06/09, 19h00)
INFORMATION ON THE SEARCH FOR AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447
The Brazilian Navy Command and Aeronautical Command inform that the Dock Landing Ship Rio de Janeiro , with a crew of 363 military personnel from the Brazilian Navy, should be joining the search and rescue operations from the 19th of June onwards. Having come from Haiti, the ship will pass near the city of Fortaleza (CE), where it will receive the reinforcement of two helicopters, a H-12 Esquilo and a H-14 Super Puma , both of the Brazilian Navy.
The French ship Mistral and the submarine Émeraude have already arrived at the search area and the seagoing tub Fairmount Expedition , contracted by the French government, has received permission to dock, today, at the port in Natal (RN), where it will receive American equipments (sensors and sonars), that will be used to search for the data recorder of the Flight AF 447 and the voice recorder of the cabin (commonly referred to as the "black boxes").
It should be emphasized that these vessels and equipments are at the service of the aeronautical authorities of France, by means of their aviation accident investigation body, the Bureau D’enquêtes et D’Analises pour la Securité de l’Aviation civile (BEA).
The work of these ships will be coordinated by SALVAERO and by SALVAMAR NE, that will monitor the position of these craft so that they do not interfere with the priority task, the search and rescue of bodies. It should be noted that, even though they are in missions of distinct nature, that these ships arriving today will contribute, whenever possible, with the rescue of bodies.
Besides these, two BEA investigators, one a structural engineer from Air Bus and the other a structural engineer from Air France , should be arriving in Recife (PE), on the 14th of June.
The Frigate Constituição , of the Brazilian Navy, is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, 11th of June, to the area where the search effort is concentrated. On the same date, the Frigate Bosísio should be arriving at a location close to Fernando de Noronha, where the 25 bodies on board will be collected by two FAB helicopters, a H-60 Blackhawk and a H-34 Super Puma , currently positioned in Fernando de Noronha.
Due to the meteorological conditions today, some of the search aircraft had their routes altered to areas with more favorable conditions for visual search. Sea conditions were satisfactory for the ships.
NAVAL SOCIAL COMMUNICATION CENTER
AERONAUTICAL SOCIAL COMMUNICATION CENTER