Experts to open air crash black boxes
Source: Agencies |
May 13, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
RELATIVES of some of the 228 people killed in a Rio-Paris jet crash voiced hope yesterday that their two-year wait for an explanation may soon be over as experts prepared to open the aircraft's "black box" recorders.
Investigators into the crash of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic in June 2009 said they were optimistic at least some of the data could be retrieved but interpreting it could take months.
Watched by relatives of some of the crash victims as well as French and Brazilian police, investigators displayed the two, bright-orange voice and data black box recorders in public for the first time at a crowded news conference.
The recorders from the Airbus A330 aircraft were hauled nearly 4 kilometers to the sea surface at the start of May after a lengthy search operation costing US$50 million and shipped subsequently to Paris, where they arrived yesterday.
"We have been waiting for 23 months, which is a long time," said Robert Soulas, who lost his daughter and son-in-law in the crash. "We were frustrated during these long months and we hope this is a new departure and things will move more rapidly."
Investigators said they expected to know by Monday whether it would be possible to extract information from the recorders, which were displayed inside tanks filled with demineralized water to prevent them being damaged by exposure to the air.
Police also expect to know within days if DNA identification can be carried out on some 50 bodies that French public prosecutor Jean Quintard said had been found among the wreckage.
Two bodies were brought to the surface last week, but investigators said that unless they can extract DNA information to identify them, they will abandon plans to bring up the rest.
"If identification is impossible, we believe the respect accorded to the victims and yourselves demands the bodies remain in their last resting place," Quintard told relatives.
About 50 bodies were also recovered from the water in the weeks following the crash, the worst in Air France's history.
Investigators said there was no certainty they would determine what went wrong before the crash. But chief investigator Alain Bouillard remained optimistic. "The recorders have several components so I am fairly confident we can get something, but until we open them we cannot say for sure."
Investigators into the crash of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic in June 2009 said they were optimistic at least some of the data could be retrieved but interpreting it could take months.
Watched by relatives of some of the crash victims as well as French and Brazilian police, investigators displayed the two, bright-orange voice and data black box recorders in public for the first time at a crowded news conference.
The recorders from the Airbus A330 aircraft were hauled nearly 4 kilometers to the sea surface at the start of May after a lengthy search operation costing US$50 million and shipped subsequently to Paris, where they arrived yesterday.
"We have been waiting for 23 months, which is a long time," said Robert Soulas, who lost his daughter and son-in-law in the crash. "We were frustrated during these long months and we hope this is a new departure and things will move more rapidly."
Investigators said they expected to know by Monday whether it would be possible to extract information from the recorders, which were displayed inside tanks filled with demineralized water to prevent them being damaged by exposure to the air.
Police also expect to know within days if DNA identification can be carried out on some 50 bodies that French public prosecutor Jean Quintard said had been found among the wreckage.
Two bodies were brought to the surface last week, but investigators said that unless they can extract DNA information to identify them, they will abandon plans to bring up the rest.
"If identification is impossible, we believe the respect accorded to the victims and yourselves demands the bodies remain in their last resting place," Quintard told relatives.
About 50 bodies were also recovered from the water in the weeks following the crash, the worst in Air France's history.
Investigators said there was no certainty they would determine what went wrong before the crash. But chief investigator Alain Bouillard remained optimistic. "The recorders have several components so I am fairly confident we can get something, but until we open them we cannot say for sure."
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