The BEA is an aircraft accident investigation bureau, they are not specialists in deep-ocean recovery,
But .. unfortunately .. the BEA was in charge of deep-ocean recovery ..
Why mandate the BEA ? and over all why let him organize and coordinate (the BEA have the last word but are.. from your own words .. no specialist of deep - ocean recovery)
Page 85-86 final report
1.16.1 Underwater search and recovery operations
The BEA was mandated after the end of the search and rescue operations (SAR) with the
organisation and coordination of operations carried out by France for the search and
recovery of the wreckage. Given the distance from the accident and the topography
of the sea bed, this particular mission required the considerable mobilisation of air,
naval and underwater forces and, even more so, of multidisciplinary skills (safety
investigators, scientists, the army, underwater search experts, etc).
The wreckage of the Rio-Paris flight aeroplane was found on 2 April 2011, 22 months
after disappearing. A special document on the four sea search phases and on the
recovery phase will be the subject of a separated publication.
The lack of success during the first three search phases led the BEA to undertake a
complete review of both the means used and the zones explored. Drawing on all the
elements provided by various partners in the searches (scientific institutes, statistical
analysts, oceanographers, etc), and comparing them with the result of the previous
phases, the BEA decided to redirect its search strategy by leading a final systematic
search operation in all the areas not explored during phases 2 and phase 3, beginning
within a circle of 20 NM from the last known position.
The Phase 4 operations took place from 25 March to 9 April 2011. The REMUS 6000
AUVs were used again in the search during this phase. They were operated by WHOI
from the Alucia, property of Deep Ocean Expeditions.
Discovery of the accident site
On 2 April 2011, the data from the 18th AUV mission was recovered, and analysis of
the sonar images brought to light a concentration of backscattered parts on the sea
bed distributed over a rectangular area of about 600 by 200 metres.
A mission to identify the type of components by photographs was immediately
scheduled. This mission ended on 3 April 2011 and the photos taken confirmed that