France to hunt again for vanished Rio-Paris flight (Air France Flt. 447)

Flightaware ^ | 11/25/2010 | AP News

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

PARIS (AP) — The French government said Thursday it will conduct a fourth search for the flight recorders of an Air France jetliner that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris 18 months ago.

All 228 people aboard Flight 447 died, and families of some victims have demanded that France not give up the hunt for the flight recorders — and answers about what caused the plane to plunge into the ocean during a large thunderstorm on June 1, 2009.

Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet and Junior Transport Minister Thierry Mariani said a fourth search would get under way in February. Their statement said the "best equipment currently available" will be used.

The initial search found 50 bodies and hundreds of pieces of the plane, including its torn-off tail. But the latest search, a euro13 million third effort, ended in May and did not find the "black box" voice and data recorders at the crash site, where the ocean is as deep as 4,000 meters (13,120 feet). Those items are critical to determine why the plane crashed.

Nelson Marinho, who heads the Brazilian victims' family association, welcomed the French government's announcement of a new search.

[Moonman62]

All 228 people aboard Flight 447 died, and families of some victims have demanded that France not give up the hunt for the flight recorders — and answers about what caused the plane to plunge into the ocean during a large thunderstorm on June 1, 2009.

They already know what happened. The plane didn't have enough fuel to go around bad weather that other flights avoided. The pitot tubes got blocked, the pilots lost reliable airspeed indications, and the plane belly flopped into the water.

[BenKenobi]

Can’t say I agree with their decision to reopen the search.

They can look as hard as they want to, but sometimes it’s just not possible to find what you are looking for.

My sympathies to the families. I wish it were otherwise, but given the area they were fortunate to find as much as they were able to find.

That box could be at the bottom of an ocean trench.

[mowowie]

Time to put Robert Ballard on the case.

[CodeToad]

Considering the last data messages received that plane broke apart from severe turbulence.

[Moonman62]

Here's the best article I've seen on the subject. The whole sequence started when not enough fuel was loaded to divert around bad weather. The last page of the article gives the reasons why it's believed the aircraft hit the water intact.

http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/minutes-air-france-447/story?id=9951878