Air France black boxes apparently lost at sea
Güncelleme Tarihi:
The Associated Press
OluÅŸturulma Tarihi: Haziran 04, 2009 00:00
FERNANDO NORONHA, Brazil - Military planes and ships struggled through high seas and heavy winds yesterday as they searched for the bobbing wreckage of an Air France jet in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, while investigators said the plane's black boxes that could explain why the jet crashed may never be found.
Rescue boats from several nations were sailing toward the site to start the recovery as aviation experts tried to determine why the plane carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on Sunday night ended up in the sea.
An airplane seat, a fuel slick, an orange lifevest and pieces of white debris were spotted Tuesday in the ocean about 640 kilometers northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast. The floating debris is spread out in two areas about 60 kilometers apart, not far off the flight path of Flight 447. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said no bodies had been found and there was no signs of life.Â
Four boats and a tanker ship are en route to the scene but Brazil's lack of equipment to scour the ocean floor was a problem, a navy spokeswoman said yesterday. Brazil was leading the search for wreckage, while France took charge of the crash investigation.
"The seas in the area are high, and that is slowing the arrival of our ships," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We have four divers on the way, but the first of them will not get to the scene until midday Thursday ."
The official said if the black boxes are at the bottom of the sea - three miles deep in some nearby areas - there was nothing the Brazil navy could do as they do not have the special remotely controlled subs needed to withstand the pressure at the ocean's bottom. "We'll really only be able to carry out recovery efforts on the surface of the sea," the official said. "If the black boxes have sunk, we don't have the equipment to look for them." The black boxes - voice and data recorders - are built to last 30 days underwater.
An airplane seat, a fuel slick, an orange lifevest and pieces of white debris were spotted Tuesday in the ocean about 640 kilometers northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast. The floating debris is spread out in two areas about 60 kilometers apart, not far off the flight path of Flight 447. Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said no bodies had been found and there was no signs of life.Â
Four boats and a tanker ship are en route to the scene but Brazil's lack of equipment to scour the ocean floor was a problem, a navy spokeswoman said yesterday. Brazil was leading the search for wreckage, while France took charge of the crash investigation.
"The seas in the area are high, and that is slowing the arrival of our ships," she said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We have four divers on the way, but the first of them will not get to the scene until midday Thursday ."
The official said if the black boxes are at the bottom of the sea - three miles deep in some nearby areas - there was nothing the Brazil navy could do as they do not have the special remotely controlled subs needed to withstand the pressure at the ocean's bottom. "We'll really only be able to carry out recovery efforts on the surface of the sea," the official said. "If the black boxes have sunk, we don't have the equipment to look for them." The black boxes - voice and data recorders - are built to last 30 days underwater.