Air France

[Eternal Light]

There were aboard this AF 447 some important figures, like some French politicians, businessmen, etc. But I doubt they were targets for terrorism. It is more likely that it was an accident.

Specialists reported today that the plane entered cumulous nimbus clouds with very low temperatures, which could be responsible for the speed sensor problem. Air France is replacing sensors and they had problem with it before. But you know. Some actions are taken after the disaster and not before it!

It's interesting that there were politicians aboard, but at the end of the day, the plane flew into turbulent weather, and apparently had numerous electrical problems, so it's far more like that this was simply a terribly tragic accident, rather than a terrorist attack, omho.

[Raptor Witness]

[interesting and very in depth weather analysis] of probable flight conditions at the time of the accident, from Blue Zone's web reference and forum.

It's a little hairy, but still useful to the lay person.

[Raptor Witness]

[Air France jet 'broke' in mid air ] - Aljazerra - June 18, 2009

Bone fractures found in bodies recovered from the Atlantic suggest the Air France jet that crashed two and half weeks ago first broke up in the air, aviation experts say.

A spokesman for Brazilian medical examiners told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Wednesday that fractures in the legs, hips and arms were found in autopsies on an undisclosed number of the 50 bodies recovered so far.

"Typically, if you see intact bodies and multiple fractures - arm, leg, hip fractures - it's a good indicator of a midflight break up,'' said Frank Ciacco, a former forensic expert at the US National Transportation Safety Board.

"Especially if you're seeing large pieces of aircraft as well," he added.

Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, citing unnamed investigators, also said some victims of Air France AF 447 were found with little or no clothing, and had no signs of burns.

That lack of clothing could be significant, Jack Casey, an aviation safety consultant in Washington DC, told AP.

"In an in-air break up like we are supposing here, the clothes are just torn away.''

Casey also said multiple fractures were consistent with a midair breakup of the plane, which was cruising at about 10,500m when it went down.

"Getting ejected into that kind of windstream is like hitting a brick wall - even if they stay in their seats, it is a crushing effect,'' Casey said.

"Most of them were long dead before they hit the water would be my guess" ... cont. at link above

Edited June 18, 2009 by Raptor Witness

[Raptor Witness]

[Report: Air France Black Box Signal Located] - June 23, 2009 - Fox News

SAO PAULO — A weak signal from the flight data recorders of the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic killing all 228 people on board have been located, French newspaper Le Monde reported on its web site Tuesday.

According to the report, French naval vessels picked up a weak signal from the flight recorders on Monday and that a mini submarine has been dispatched to try and find the "black boxes" on the bottom of the rugged ocean floor ... cont. at link above.

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An interesting [twist of fate?]

[Bill Hill]

How's my UFO theory doing?

Not blow out of the water yet, is it?

[chemical-licker]

How's my UFO theory doing?

Not blow out of the water yet, is it?

so the government want us dead and now those pesky aliens, this is all wrong.

[Raptor Witness]

[Official Denies Air France Black Box Signal Heard] - Tuesday, June 23, 2009

PARIS — French military ships searching for the black boxes of Flight 447 have detected sounds in the Atlantic depths but they are not from the flight recorders, a French official said Tuesday.

The official, an aide to France's minister in charge of transport, Jean-Louis-Borloo, denied a report in the French newspaper Le Monde that French ships had picked up a signal from the black boxes.

French military ships searching in the area where the plane crashed have "heard sounds" but "the black boxes have not been detected," she said. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to be publicly named ... cont. at link above.

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[2 Air France Flight Crew Bodies Identified] - 25 June 2009

Air France says the bodies of two crew members have been recovered from the crash of the passenger jet that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil.

Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon issued a statement Thursday saying the bodies of the flight captain and a flight attendant have been identified. He expressed his condolences to the families on behalf of the airline ... cont. at link above.

[Raptor Witness]

[Air France plane did not break up in flight - report] - CNN - July 2, 2009

PARIS, France (CNN) -- The Air France plane that crashed a month ago off the coast of Brazil "did not break up or become destroyed in flight," but bellyflopped intact into the Atlantic Ocean, the French air investigation agency announced Thursday.

"The plane went straight down, almost vertically... towards the surface of the water, very very fast," air accident investigator Alain Bouillard said.

Based on visual study of the physical remains of the Airbus A330 that have been recovered, "we were able to see that the plane hit the surface of the water flat. Therefore everything was pushed upwards -- everything was pushed from the bottom to the top" of the plane, he said.

The 228 people killed in the crash "had no time to prepare," he said. Video Watch report on plane's final moments »

But Bouillard said he did not have autopsy results from the bodies recovered, and did not know why no one lived through the crash.

"I don't know why nobody survived," he said. "I don't know the intensity of the impact. Perhaps we will find out from the autopsies. Perhaps we will never know.

... The last contact with the plane was at 2:10 a.m. local time on June 1.

"Right after that 24 automated messages came through" about the status of the plane, he said. Those messages were what enabled investigators to determine that the autopilot would not have had enough information to fly the plane, he said.

No air-traffic controllers seem to have been monitoring the flight when it went down, investigations have found. It would normally have been "handed over" from controllers in South America to others in Africa while flying over the Atlantic, but that did not happen, Bouillard said.

"We want to know why there was no concern in Dakar (in Senegal, west Africa) when this plane was not handed over," he said.

The plane was flying through severe storms when it went down.

Three other flights on similar routes changed course within an hour after Air France 447 flew into the bad weather.

A Spanish, French and German flight all experienced turbulence in the same region and diverted as much as 100 km (62 miles) off course to avoid bad weather, Bouillard said. All three flights had problems communicating with air traffic control" ... cont. at link above.

[source: Professional Pilot Forum]