Posted on 06/18/2009 9:42:23 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
THE GALLEY kitchen from doomed Air France Flight 447 was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean today. Navy divers hauled large chunks of the wreckage to the surface - and found metal draws containing ready-meals for passengers still securely wedged inside.
Many of the dead suffered multiple fractures of the legs, hips and arms leading experts to believe the tragic jet broke up in mid air.
Brazil's navy have now recovered 50 bodies from the 228 who perished on board the flight bound for Paris. The bodies have been found in choppy waters more than 50 miles apart.
Retrieve ... diver investigates debris
(AP Photo/Brazil's Navy) Investigators have also found more than 400 bits of debris from the ocean, including several large pieces which have remained largely intact. Experts claim this is another clue that the aircraft broke up mid flight.
The plane's flight data and voice recorders have not yet been found and are thought to be deep under water.
Top French investigator Paul-Louis Arslanian said bad weather was hampering the search and claimed it was "one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation".
Mr Arslanian, who runs French air accident investigation agency BEA, said his team was beginning to form "an image that is progressively less fuzzy".
He said: "We are in a situation that is a bit more favourable than the first days. We can say there is a little less uncertainty, so there is a little more optimism. But it is premature for the time being to say what happened."
The investigator spoke out after it was revealed an Air France jet bound for Paris was sabotaged in Germany just three days after the crash.
Technicians inspecting the plane discovered wires to a smoke detector in the luggage hold had been severed with a cutter in what Air France has described as a "malicious act".
Crash investigators have not ruled out a terrorist attack - but are focusing on a flurry of automatic messages sent out before the plane was lost from radar during thunderstorms.
A Brazilian newspaper reported yesterday that some victims were found wearing little or not clothing - and had signs of burns.
Former accident investigator, Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington, DC, said: "In an in-air break up like we are supposing here, the clothes are just torn away."
"Getting ejected into that kind of wind stream is like hitting a brick wall - even if they stay in their seats, it is a crushing effect. Most of them were long dead before they hit the water would be my guess."
Meanwhile, an investigation into the aborted take off in Dusseldorf is continuing by Air France.
The pilot abandoned take-off from the German airport after finding a fault with a smoke detector. When technicians inspected the plane, they discovered wires to the device in the luggage hold had been severed with a cutter.
The Airbus A318 jet was later cleared for take-off because the fault was not enough to ground the plane.
Just horrific. God rest their souls.
IMO, this looks more and more like a mid-air high altitude bomb.
Many of the dead suffered multiple fractures of legs, hips, and arms ....
That sure sounds like some were bracing for impact which suggests some were still alive ....plane broke up due to massive egress caused by rapid oxidation of explosive device ( a bomb you libtards)
Rapid oxidation of an explosive device would explain the burns.
It is possible that all of the above are true - the rear half may have broken up midair, leaving the 1st class section to lawn dart in.
No, there’s a specific set of injuries that are caused by the flailing of extremities when somebody is ejected from a breaking-up aircraft at high altitude and high speed. That’s what they’re saying these match. If the plane was intact and hit the water at high speed, they wouldn’t be finding intact bodies. They’d be finding bits, if that—the deceleration force would tear them apart.
In-flight breakup doesn’t necessarily mean a bomb, there’s several aircraft that have come apart as a result of metal fatigue and/or improper maintenance. But this A330 was only four years old, far too young for something like that. It could have been an “upset”, where the plane goes out of control and it broke up due to excessive speed or exceeding the maximum g-load it could handle. And, yes, it could’ve been a bomb of some kind, even something as small as Richard Reid’s “shoe bomb” if in the right place. It’s still too early to tell.
}:-)4
And of course when the shuttle cabin was recovered they found “only bits” NOT they found in tact bodies. You apparently are not familiar with airline crashes into water.
The shuttle cabin is not built anything like an aircraft cabin. You can’t make any such comparison between the two.
Amazingly enough, take the non-structural tiles off the shuttle, you will find it is very, very similiar to a modern aluminum pressurized airplane.
The pilot abandoned take-off from the German airport after finding a fault with a smoke detector. When technicians inspected the plane, they discovered wires to the device in the luggage hold had been severed with a cutter.
The Airbus A318 jet was later cleared for take-off because the fault was not enough to ground the plane.
Bracing for impact?
Wondering. . . from the description of the bodies, how do you come to that conclusion.
Well DUH.
and no, I don't believe that it was a bomb. - although it isn't impossible.
A loss of control in the fly by wire aircraft will lead to the plane being torn apart by aerodynamic forces very quickly.
A loss of control in any aircraft leads to a breakup when the airspeed is in the red and the attitude is upset, and this is far from uncommon in general aviation incidents.
In fact, that is how the shuttle broke up - contrary to the popular belief that it was blown-up
But keep in mind that Airbus has a history of both multiple rudder losses and a vertical fin and rudder separation from the airframe. . .as was the case in NY with AA.
As an engineer friend of mine said, “A few years ago we had a storm come through, with gusts up to 60-70 kts., catching several A320s on the line, out in the open. The A320 elevators and rudder hinges shattered and the rudder and elevators came off. Upon closer inspection I realized that not only were the rear spars composite but so were the hinges. While Boeing also uses composite material in its airfoil structures, the actual attach fittings for the elevators, rudder, vertical and horizontal stabilizers are all of machined aluminum.”
Boeing does have a longer history of working with composites (fighters for decades now), so the 787 design incorporates many of those learning points to improve safety.
As to actual “cause” of the Air France breakup, unknown for now.
“plane broke up due to massive egress caused by rapid oxidation of explosive device ( a bomb you libtards)”
The only libtards are you drama queen conspiracy theorists.
Whenever I see someone use the term “conspiracy theorists” I have to point out the biggest mystery in history has been solved. I have found, however, that most of the people who use that term are not smart enough to understand that is true. The bottom line is that governments do lie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBpHSyuueMU
In the Air France case, I simply watch to reach my own conclusions.
“In the Air France case, I simply watch to reach my own conclusions.”
Air France and Airbus would likely prefer that this were a bomb. That way, there would not be further lingering questions as the overall airworthiness of the Airbus pedigree, or the maintenance practices of Air France.
A bomb would be a much “cleaner” answer from their bureaucratic perspective.
So there are conspiracies that can be concocted from either side - bomb, or in-flight breakup not as a result of a bomb.
I think the fact that there was a documented problem with airspeed indicators makes it more likely that there was no bomb.
BUMP!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.