AF447 wreckage found
Joined: Feb 2007
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 634
Likes: 786
From: England
That really is superb news. All the effort and expense has been justified.
This is all about avoiding a repeat of whatever caused this tragic accident.
Congratulations to all involved.
This is all about avoiding a repeat of whatever caused this tragic accident.
Congratulations to all involved.
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 73
Likes: 8
From: US
And the conspiracy theorists suddenly go silent. But for how long? 
lol
In fact I suspect this photo was taken on the same stage from where the moon landing was faked........
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,103
Likes: 5
From: Chabanais, France
Just how much force is required to separate the memory unit from the casing, are the attachment points intended to shear at a certain force?
Personally not seen one separated before, despite a very severe arrival on earth, so quite curious.
Personally not seen one separated before, despite a very severe arrival on earth, so quite curious.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 909
Likes: 3
From: Glasgow
@ Parabellum,
Force required for separation would depend upon rate of change of deceleration and angle of deceleration along with whether deceleration was sustained. Then there are the bolt material strength to be taken into account, whether there was any play in connections and also the material strength of whatever the bolts were attached to.
Force required for separation would depend upon rate of change of deceleration and angle of deceleration along with whether deceleration was sustained. Then there are the bolt material strength to be taken into account, whether there was any play in connections and also the material strength of whatever the bolts were attached to.
Joined: Jul 2009
Aviation Qualifications: ATP+Mil
Posts: 1,587
Likes: 185
From: Not far from a big Lake
I think the CVR may be a bit more important in this event.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 35
Likes: 0
From: Earth
Why is this search so transparent . . .
Why is BEA/AF so transparent on the recovery effort, if somebody were trying to cover something up? Every screw-up on the recovery effort has been reported and reported again -- by them!
Doggone, they have found the FDR and presumably will bring it up. Good work!
Maybe the CVR will reveal more if found, but how many times can a person say "Aw Crap" in French?
Although long retired as a pilot, I have spent 600k miles as SLF on the 330 and its derivatives. No French person I know would ever deliberately put me on a dangerous plane. Please, all you Bus bashers, give these guys a little more time. Pray God the gizmo tells us something.
Doggone, they have found the FDR and presumably will bring it up. Good work!
Maybe the CVR will reveal more if found, but how many times can a person say "Aw Crap" in French?
Although long retired as a pilot, I have spent 600k miles as SLF on the 330 and its derivatives. No French person I know would ever deliberately put me on a dangerous plane. Please, all you Bus bashers, give these guys a little more time. Pray God the gizmo tells us something.
Last edited by GHOTI; 2nd May 2011 at 01:36. Reason: clarity
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,525
Likes: 6
From: In Frozen Chunks (Cloud Cuckoo Land)
The accident may have been solely the result of 'system problems.'
The CVR may provide an insight into how the errors appeared to the crew, and how they responded. Appropriately or not.....
Or maybe they do indeed just say "Aw Crap".
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 264
Likes: 10
From: OZ
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
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
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 0
Likes: 0
From: Germany
On the 330, is it possible to deselect the WX RDR on the MFD? I have spotted the Co on my current Jet having done this a couple of times with CBs predicted. At night, unless you got a flash above you, it could be easy to assume nothing was painting and you were all clear. To be honest, the best tool I find for searching for cells are a set of NVGs. you can see a good 200+ miles, flashes over the horizon WELL before the typical radar will pick things up.
Would a forward looking IR camera in addition to the WX RDR be a more sensible addition? If they had a night mode on the tail cam I have seen some buses have, with a tilt feature to move from the view of the wingspan more into the direction of flight, it could be done at very little cost. Of course, doesnt help with embedded stuff, so you will still need WX RDR. Of my 2000 hours heavy jet (dont laugh), I can only think of 1 time where I needed to nav in cloud around embedded stuff; generally, if its convective, people generally stay out of clouds rather than fly though it!
Would a forward looking IR camera in addition to the WX RDR be a more sensible addition? If they had a night mode on the tail cam I have seen some buses have, with a tilt feature to move from the view of the wingspan more into the direction of flight, it could be done at very little cost. Of course, doesnt help with embedded stuff, so you will still need WX RDR. Of my 2000 hours heavy jet (dont laugh), I can only think of 1 time where I needed to nav in cloud around embedded stuff; generally, if its convective, people generally stay out of clouds rather than fly though it!
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Netherlands
Pinger?
Nobody seems to have noticed yet that the pinger is missing from the memory module. You can see the four holes where the pinger was attached on the side. Since the pinger is located on the outside of the memory unit, it is much less protected. The forces needed to shear it of the memory unit would probably also destroy it, which would explain why they never heard the pinger.
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
From: UK
actually from the the tech log thread , the french navy did in fact hear a pinger , but only on the data tapes , via a new `cleaning` method many many months after the initial search.
@Daysleeper
i should have been clearer then , the french navy actually heard the `pinger` , or rather , they recorded it on the data tapes which were looked at `again` many months later ; using equipment designed for hunting other subs at much much higher depths than the 10000 feet of water AF447 is laying to rest
@Daysleeper
i should have been clearer then , the french navy actually heard the `pinger` , or rather , they recorded it on the data tapes which were looked at `again` many months later ; using equipment designed for hunting other subs at much much higher depths than the 10000 feet of water AF447 is laying to rest
