As previously mentioned by
noske, the BEA has recently published (in French) a summary of the
Sea Search Operations. The conclusions reached have been translated into English below:-
The discovery of the wreck concludes months of searching in very difficult conditions, from which can be drawn the following conclusions:
- aircraft position reports must be more frequent (AF 447 reported its position every 10 min). This is precisely the subject of a recommendation made by the BEA in its interim report dated 17 December 2009;
- drifting buoys should be dropped as soon as possible after the accident in order to track the drift currents, which beyond a few days can be largely unpredictable;
- the Underwater Locator Beacon (ULB) frequency of 37.5 kHz is not suitable;
- the transmission time of acoustic beacons (ULBs) should be increased from 30 to 90 days: it is still not certain that they actually worked. The recommendation made by the BEA to install an additional beacon emitting a lower frequency and potentially having a greater range, will reduce the risk of non-detection;
- the Remus AUVs, equipped with sonar and cameras have proved a very effective resource;
- the exploration of a very deep rugged seabed, far from the coast, is a technological and organizational challenge. Mounting such an operation which makes use of globally rare material resources and experts, requires large financial resources (about 5 to 15 M €) and involves significant delays.
They have also confirmed their confidence in the Remus Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for this kind of operation.