Air France black box recovered from Atlantic
Posted 4 hours 16 minutes ago onABC Australia
Relatives of the crash victims said they were heartened by the news the black box had been recovered. (Reuters: Brazilian Air Force)
RELATED STORY: Doomed Air France flight's black box found
Search teams have retrieved one of two black box flight recorders of an Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, killing 228 people.
The device was the crucial memory unit from a flight data recorder, France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said in a statement.
It was "in good physical condition" after having been moved by a robotic submarine.
The official cause of the disaster remains uncertain, but the crash has been partly blamed on malfunctioning speed sensors used by Airbus.
Air France has been accused of not having responded quickly enough to reports that they might be faulty.
The recovery could be a breakthrough in the investigation into the disaster, because the box could hold crucial data that would enable BEA investigators to determine the cause of the crash.
"Our experts will tell us if there's hope of reading the data," BEA director Jean-Paul Troadec said.
"If the data can be used it will allow the inquiry to make headway because the [flight data recorder] records the altitude, speed and the various positions of the rudder."
The device was expected to arrive at BEA offices within eight to 10 days to allow for the search of the cockpit voice recorder (CFR), so both can be taken back to France.
"If we can read the first data, that would be a great step forward. But without the second black box, essential data will be missing ... the way the pilots reacted, the reasons they took ... one decision or another during the emergency," Mr Troadec said.
A spokesman for relatives of the crash victims said they were heartened by the news.
"It's very, very encouraging for all the families of the victims, even if we have to remain prudent while we wait to see to what extent the recorder can be used," said Jean-Baptiste Audousset, head of the AF447 Association.
Investigators announced last Wednesday that search teams had retrieved part of a black box flight recorder from the Airbus A330, but not the part containing the key data.
BEA said the chassis that held one of the recorders had been found a day after a salvage ship began working to retrieve bodies and recently discovered wreckage using the Remora submarines.
The module had broken off from the chassis, presumably at the moment the plane, which was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, crashed into the water.
- AFP