PARIS, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The French accident investigation agency said on Wednesday it was not hopeful that the black box of the missing Air France airliner would be found.
Speaking at the first news conference since the disappearance of the Air France flight AF447 from Rio to Paris on Monday, Paul-Louis Arslanian, the director of France's air safety investigation agency, said he was "not optimistic" that the box would be found in the "deep sea and mountainous area."
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A relative of the missing airliner's victims leaves the Rio de Janeiro International Airport escorted by guards in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 1, 2009. An Air France airliner with 228 people onboard missing over the Atlantic Ocean after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrics failure while flying through an Atlantic storm, said Air France on Monday. (Xinhua/Song Weiwei)
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Four teams have been sent to an area in the Atlantic Ocean to investigate the case. The first team aims to locate the exact position of the crash; the second is seeking information relating to the cause of the crash and the history of the passenger jet; the third is trying to find out the operation of the plane, and the fourth is focusing on the operation of the equipment.
Investigators are working with Air France, Airbus and meteorologists to determine what caused Air France Flight 447 to crash with 228 people on board into the Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast on Monday.
The agency is expected to have an initial report on the disaster ready by the end of June, Arslanian said.
Describing the crash as the most serious in French aviation history, Arslanian said France will take charge of the investigations according to related international laws.
Asked what might have caused the crash, Arslanian said there were too many uncertainties regarding information obtained so far, plus the complexity of the sea area where the plane crashed, which all added to the difficulty of the investigations.
So far they could not determine whether the plane broke up in the air or upon impact with the sea, he said, warning that investigations were likely to last for a long time.
The studies of the plane's maintenance and other records showed no evidence that it had problems before takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT), Arslanian said.
However, he declined to comment on an earlier Air France statement that the plane might have been hit by lightning.
Regarding the black box, Arslanian said he was "not optimistic" that rescuers could recover it.
"I am not so optimistic. It is not only deep, it is also mountainous," he said. "We might find ourselves blocked at some point by the lack of material elements."
However, he noted that if rescuers do not find the black box, investigators should be prepared to continue the probe through other sources.
The black box, which contain voice and data recorders, is built to last 30 days at about 6,000 meters underwater.
The person in charge of the investigation, Alain Bouillard also told the press conference on Wednesday the accident investigation agency would submit its first preliminary report by the end of June.
While France has taken charge of the crash investigation, Brazil has been leading the search for wreckage, and at present five vessels are en route to the scene.
Besides searching the surface, remotely controlled submersible craft will have to be used to recover wreckage and the black box. The task is expected to be exceedingly challenging as the water depth in the area is about 7,000 meters.
So far no black box has ever been tracked from that deep.
France has sent a research ship equipped with unmanned submarines that can explore as deep as 6,000 meters, according to the French military.
In another development, a Brazilian air force spokesman on Wednesday said bigger debris, including what appears to be a seven-meter-long chunk of the plane has been spotted, though he said that they bore no obvious markings.
Before that, spotter jets had found an aircraft seat, an orange life vest, and some engine oil floating on the sea surface, which were later identified to be from the plane.
No signs of life have so far been found.
Debris confirms crash of Air France
jet
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Brazil Tuesday
confirmed the debris found earlier on the open Atlantic Ocean belonged to Air
France Flight 447, solidifying the crash of the jet that went missing early
Monday.
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Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim
holds a diagram of the crash area during a news conference in Rio de
Janeiro June 2, 2009. Jobim said that wreckage spotted in the Atlantic
Ocean is "without a doubt" from the Air France jet that disappeared en
route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro with 228 people on board.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
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Gallery>>> |
The three-mile (five kilometers) path of wreckage found in the Atlantic Ocean
belonged to the Air France jet carrying 228 people that was believed to have
crashed into the sea, Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said on
Tuesday. Full
story
Air France crash maybe caused by
weather-linked technical failure: expert
PARIS, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A French expert said on Tuesday
that the missing of Air France Flight 447, believed to have crashed, was most
likely the result of a technical failure caused by bad weather.
Pierre Sparaco, a member of the French Air and Space
Academy, said an accident was more likely to occur when the aircraft was taking
off or landing, compared with the period of cruise aviation. Full story
Cause of French plane disappearance
remains unknown: French PM
PARIS, June 2
(Xinhua) -- French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said Tuesday it is still
unclear what caused the disappearance of the Air France Airbus.
"No theory is favored at the moment," Fillon told the
French parliament. Full story
Brazil confirms debris belongs to
missing Air France
jet
RIO DE JANEIRO,
June 2 (Xinhua) -- The debris found earlier in the day undoubtedly belonged to
the Air France Flight 447, which went missing in the early hours of Monday,
Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesday afternoon.
The debris was found at the open ocean in the
mid-Atlantic, about 400 miles (640 km) northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha
archipelago, Jobim told a press conference in Rio. Full story
Brazilian president: bodies of likely
plane crash victims can be
found
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 2
(Xinhua) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voiced his confidence
on Tuesday that the search teams will manage to find the bodies of the likely
victims of the Air France Flight 447, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean
in the early hours of Monday, local media reported.
Lula, who is on an official visit to Guatemala, has
been informed by Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim of the latest
developments of the issue, such as the fact that debris were spotted by Air
Force planes on Tuesday. Full story
U.S. military joins search for French plane
survivors
WASHINGTON, June 2
(Xinhua) -- A U.S. Navy P-3C Orion maritime patrol plane will join international
search efforts for survivors and debris from Air France Flight 447, which was
believed to have crashed, the U.S. Southern Command said Tuesday.
The aircraft and 21 U.S. crew members arrived in Brazil
earlier in the day from its forward operating location in Comalapa Air Base, El
Salvador, the command said in a statement. Full story
Chinese companies confirm staff onboard missing Air Franch
plane
SHENYANG, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Two Chinese companies said
Tuesday that seven employees were on board the Air France jetliner that vanished
in the Atlantic.
Benxi Iron & Steel (Group) Co. Ltd. said four men and
two women, including a senior manager, were taking the flight to Paris after
business talks with representatives of Australia's BHP Billiton Ltd. and
Brazil's CVRD, said Liu Dahong, vice director of publicity department of the
company based in Liaoning Province, northeast China. Full story
Possible burning wreckage spotted
after Air France plane disappeared
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A Brazilian Air Force radar plane at
Fernando de Noronha airport preparing for the search of the Air France
flight 447 bound for Paris that plunged into the Atlantic just a few hours
after taking off on late May 31 from Rio de Janeiro.((Xinhua/AFP
Photo)
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Gallery>>> |
RIO
DE JANEIRO, June 2 (Xinhua) -- A pilot from Brazil's airline TAM may have
spotted a burning piece of wreckage of the Air France passenger plane that
disappeared early Monday morning.
The Brazilian Air Force confirmed late Monday that
the pilot saw "orange-colored spots" on the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 minutes
after the last contact between Air France Flight 447 and Brazil's air control
center.Full story
Air France locates accident
spot
PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Air France's chief executive
said on Monday that the missing Air France airliner Airbus A330-200 disappeared
in the middle of the waters between Brazilian and African coasts with a
circumference of scores of nautical miles. Full story
Brazilian president expresses sympathy
to relatives of missing airliner
victims
BRASILIA, June 1 (Xinhua)
-- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that he "shares
the pain of the relatives and friends of the victims" from the flight 447 of Air
France that disappeared on Sunday night when it was flying from Rio de Janeiro
to Paris.
The Air France airliner, an Airbus 330-200 bound for
Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly
after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT).Full story
Barroso expresses sympathy to
Brazilian, French presidents over plane
crash
BRUSSELS, June 1
(Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso expressed express
solidarity and sympathy over an accident of an Air France aircraft in a message
sent respectively on Monday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his
Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
"It is with emotion that I learned of the accident
that took place this Sunday with an Air France plane from Rio de Janeiro to
Paris, causing 228 victims and enormous suffering on both sides ofthe Atlantic,"
Barroso said on behalf of the European Commission. Full story
Brazil sends planes, ships for Air
France Flight 447 search
RIO
DE JANEIRO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- The Brazilian government said on Monday that
three Air Force planes and three Navy ships are in route to take part on the
search effort for the Air France Flight 447, some 1,100 kilometers off the coast
of the Brazilian city of Natal in the country's northeastern region.
The French government is also helping, with a
military aircraft which took off from Senegal earlier on Monday. Full story
Air France airliner vanishes, chances
of finding survivor very slim
PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Chances of finding any survivors
are "very slim" as an Air France airliner with 228 people on board vanished over
the Atlantic Ocean, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday. Full story
Air France says air crash victims from
32 nations
PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Air France announced Monday that
victims aboard Flight 447 missing over the Atlantic on route from Rio de Janeiro
to Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport came from 32 countries. Full story
Eight Chinese nationals onboard
missing Air France plane: Chinese Embassy
EIO DE JANEIRO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Eight Chinese nationals
were onboard an Air France passenger plane missing over the Atlantic off the
Brazilian coast, the Chinese Embassy in Brazil said on Monday. Full story
Special Report: Air France airliner
crashes
