Translation of Figaro article
The investigators have located the part of the aircraft where the recorders are placed. Reading them remains uncertain.
The mystèry of flight AF 447 could be unveiled in early May. The investigators chargéd with recovering the black boxes of Rio-Paris, which crashed June 1 2009 with 228 people on board, flew from Roissy pour to Dakar Thusrday. They have Ils met the câble ship Ile de Sein, which belongs to Alcatel-Lucent and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs and have headed off to the accident zone which they will reach in four days.
Their mission is first to raise the black boxes from the aircraft. The investigators hope to have that done in 24 hour, worse case in a few days". The Remus submersibles used by the previous expediton - which discovered the wreck - has effectively gridded the débris field and taken 15 000 photos. Remains of the nose and tail pf the aircraft , the motor[s], parts of the fuselage have been geolocated and will allow a more rapid deployment of the submersible used in this last campaign.
[from Squawk Ident
"Among the debris photographed, no trace of the black boxes but the part of the aircraft which shelters them has been formally identified and located. It is the pressure bulkhead, the wall that separates the pressurized part of the aircraft and its nonpressurized one, at the back (of the plane). On the Airbus A330, the two black boxes are fixed on each side of this pressure bulkhead."
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"It's 50/50"
The cockpit voice recorder ( CVR) placed in front could give the investigators all the conversations in the cockpit and will allow the determination of who was at the controles and how the crew dealt with the accident. Le flight data recorder (FDR) should furnish all the paramèters of flight and will determine the scénario of the drama. If, as the investigators hope, the flight recorders are retrieved in 24 hours, a frigate of the French Navy will come from Cayenne to retrieve them, then send them to the facilities of BEA at Bourget. The investigators will remain at the site to concentrate on raising bodies. "Several dozen bodies" have been found and photographed by the Remus submersible.
It remains to find out if the black boxes can be read and have not been totally damaged by the accident. Black boxes have already been retrieved several months after an accident. They résist à shocl de 3,400 g on aircraft impact, à température of 1,100 °C for an hour in case of fire and àn undersea pressure of 6,000 mètres for six months.
In the case of AF 447, they will have been over two years at a depth of 4,000 mètres. "It's 50/50", estimates somebody close to the investigation. If the recorders can no lomnger be read, the investigators will have to raise parts of the aircraft that can help the BEA in its investigation: calculators, the position of the controls or even the maintenance recorder, situated in the hold, which contains considerable information on the flight.