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Air France crash may remain unsolved: sources
Reuters via National Post ^ | 2009-12-14 | Tim Hepher

Posted on 12/14/2009 2:58:11 AM PST by Clive

PARIS - French investigators are unlikely to establish the exact cause of a fatal Atlantic plane crash in a report this week but may recommend ways to help locate black boxes more easily, sources familiar with the incident said.

France's BEA accident investigation authority is due on Thursday to issue its final report into the Air France crash in which 228 people died.

Flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic on June 1 after flying into stormy weather.

The ‘black box' flight recorders remain missing and only small parts of the wreckage have been found of the Airbus A330.

"I don't expect much new concrete information on the cause of the crash," a source familiar with the investigation said.

A second source familiar with the incident concurred, saying the report would add little to an inconclusive preliminary report issued in July.

The new report's conclusions are currently being finalised, the sources added.

The BEA declined to comment.

The July report identified problems in handing responsibility for the aircraft between controllers but said it was too early to say what caused the plane to hit the ocean.

Speculation has focused on possible icing of the aircraft's speed sensors, which appeared to give inconsistent readings and may have disrupted other systems.

Safety authorities ordered checks on the sensors known as ‘pitot probes' and restricted the use of the type installed on the plane, made by France's Thales.

But investigators are not expected to pin the blame on any one issue, one source close to the investigation said.

Instead, the BEA is expected to make at least three recommendations on general aircraft safety, this source said.

These include extending the life of locator beacons attached to the flight recorders to 90 days from 30 days.

(Excerpt) Read more at nationalpost.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Technical
KEYWORDS: 447; af447; airfrance; flightaf447

1 posted on 12/14/2009 2:58:11 AM PST by Clive
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To: Clive
....put the US crew from the US flight safety that “investigated” Flight 800 on it....they'll come up with a story for ya......
2 posted on 12/14/2009 3:01:25 AM PST by Doogle (USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
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To: Clive
So ... a plane essentially vaporized?

THAT, it seems to me, to be the mystery .. not a missing black box.

Who or what was on that plane?

3 posted on 12/14/2009 3:02:18 AM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true)
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To: knarf; Clive
So ... a plane essentially vaporized?

More likely than not, it broke up and the pieces sank.

Trying to find those pieces at the depths comparable, if not deeper than, say, the Titanic, is a monumental task, especially since the beacons attached to the Flight Data Recorder and Cockpit Voice Recorder devices have a set lifetime, and that's assuming they weren't damaged on impact.

4 posted on 12/14/2009 3:09:01 AM PST by rabscuttle385 (Purge the RINOs! * http://restoretheconstitution.ning.com/)
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To: knarf

Yup, what was on the plane is probably the best answer.


5 posted on 12/14/2009 3:12:17 AM PST by sunmars
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To: sunmars

Yup, what was on the plane is probably the best answer.

Or who, or both. I would love to know how much scrutiny the passenger list received. Of course if a bomber, he/she wouldn’t necessarily have to have been aboard.


6 posted on 12/14/2009 3:47:50 AM PST by wita
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To: Aeronaut

aeroping


7 posted on 12/14/2009 4:24:50 AM PST by Travis McGee (---www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com---)
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To: sunmars

Yup, what was on the plane is probably the best answer.
.....

Who and what...


8 posted on 12/14/2009 4:27:21 AM PST by thinking
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To: thinking

Come on, the official answer was ‘lightning’. Scratch that.

Next, the official answer was ‘defective pitot tubes’. Scratch that.

Do you really expect France to blame Air France or one of their countries produced aircraft for a mechanical failure?


9 posted on 12/14/2009 4:54:58 AM PST by WaterBoard
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To: WaterBoard

Correct. . .especially since they are in a bidding war for the next USAF tanker.


10 posted on 12/14/2009 5:07:15 AM PST by Hulka
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To: luckybogey

Ping


11 posted on 12/14/2009 5:11:14 AM PST by circumbendibus (Where's the Birth Certificate?)
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To: circumbendibus

thanks. says bea to issue report thursday which will say nothing new...


12 posted on 12/14/2009 5:12:44 AM PST by luckybogey
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To: Clive

Reason Number 1: The aircraft involved was a POS.


13 posted on 12/14/2009 5:14:07 AM PST by CholeraJoe (I'll try to be nicer, if you'll try to be smarter.)
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To: Clive

No Air France for me today, thanks.


14 posted on 12/14/2009 5:40:48 AM PST by onedoug
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To: Clive

My first guess would be they flew into an area of thunderstorms that was more than most any aircraft can handle. Add to that ANY malfunction of the systems on board and you don’t need a bomb. And then add to that the failure of a single flight control surface or structural piece of the aircraft and it spells certain doom.


15 posted on 12/14/2009 6:30:39 AM PST by jwparkerjr
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To: Clive

To make matters even more interesting, CNN reports another AirFrance incident of severe turbulence in nearly the same spot as the flight 447 crash area, this time, on 11/29.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/11/air.france.investigation/index.html


16 posted on 12/14/2009 8:53:50 AM PST by Eroteme
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