HN39, thanks. That meant they looked at them around 08h00, and apparently nobody thought to look at them earlier.
----
4h20 AF 459 tells DAKAR they have been unsuccessful in raising AF 447, and have sent a message (@ 4h18) to AF OCC to this effect.
4h24 AF OCC sends an ACARS message to AF 447 asking them to contact DAKAR.
5h50 AF OCC contacts Search and Rescue Satellite Tracking Center and asks if they have any beacon transmissions..
Between 6h00 and 7h30 approximately, AF OCC and the following centers are talking with each other on whether there has been contact with AF 447.
SANTA MARIA, SHANWICK, CANARIAS, DAKAR, LISBOA, MADRID, ATLANTICO, BREST, CASABLANCA,
"At 7 h 29, the Air France OCC called the BREST centre to state its concerns over AF447. It stated that the airplane was not in contact either with Brazil or with Senegal and that the attempts at communication using the ACARS system, SATCOM and Stockholm radio were unsuccessful."
^^^ No reference to the ACARS messages that had been sent.
______________________
Mr. Optimistic, the Drift Analysis group said there were voids in some of the satellite imagery of the sea surface on June 1 because of rain in the area. However, every low-level aerial search grid that was flown in the days following seems to have presumed that the June 1 search grid was adequately done. The first sighting of floating objects from AF 447 was made by a passing cargo vessel, not an airplane.