The following conclusions reached by the BEA after its search for AFR447 may be of interest:
- Above all, more frequent position reporting by aircraft is required (flight AF 447 transmitted its position every 10 min). This is the subject of a recommendation made by the BEA in its Interim Report n° 2 on 17 December 2009.
- Drift buoys must be released as soon as possible after any accident, in order to follow the drift currents, which can be highly unpredictable beyond a few days.
- Calling on a submarine to listen for acoustic beacon signals at 37.5 kHz is not appropriate.
- The transmission times of acoustic beacons must be increased from 30 to 90 days: despite this, it is noted that there is some doubt as to whether they functioned. The recommendation made by the BEA to install an additional beacon, transmitting on a lower frequency and thus with longer range, should enable the risk of non-detection to be decreased.
- The Remus AUV, equipped with sonar and camera, proved themselves to be highly effective.
- Exploring undersea areas with rough terrain at great depths and so far from the coast is a technological and organisational challenge. It takes a long time to organise such operations, which call on resources in material and the few world specialists, and need significant financial resources (from 5 to 15 M€).