Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


6

Terrorists Didn't Down Flight 447: Autopsies

Share

(Newser) – Autopsy reports indicate that Air France flight 447 did not crash because of a terrorist strike, the Independent reports. Examinations of the first 16 bodies—all recovered whole—show no signs of explosion, fire, or penetration by shards of metal. The autopsy details, leaked to the Brazilian press this weekend, leave authorities all the more baffled by the fatal crash.

Automatic messages sent from the plane indicate problems with its spend sensors and tail rudder limiter, which keeps the main steering device from going wild. “The message tells us that the rudder limiter was inoperative,” an expert says. “It does not give you any reason why it is not working or what caused it.” Search teams have recovered 50 bodies in two groups 50 miles apart, which may mean the plane disintegrated in mid-air.

Debris from the missing Air France flight 447 are put on display for the media after being recovered during search operations, at Recife's Air Force base, Brazil.
Debris from the missing Air France flight 447 are put on display for the media after being recovered during search operations, at Recife's Air Force base, Brazil.   (AP Photo/Roberto Candia)
Workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight 447, from the Brazilian Navy's Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, Sunday, June 14, 2009.
Workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight 447, from the Brazilian Navy's Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil, Sunday, June 14, 2009.   (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
A burst of last-minute automatic messages sent by Air France Flight 447 includes one about a problem with a rudder safety device, but that does not explain what sent the jet plunging into the ocean.
A burst of last-minute automatic messages sent by Air France Flight 447 includes one about a problem with a rudder safety device, but that does not explain what sent the jet plunging into the ocean.   (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
6 comments
VIEWING:
 
2-bits
Jun 14, 09 5:13 PM CDT
Conspiracy theorists in this thread in 3...2... Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
meliaarhrt
Jun 14, 09 5:39 PM CDT
Seems like there is a significant crash every few months... is this safety record acceptable? Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
IN RESPONSE:
Reader83272497
Jun 17, 09 3:42 AM CDT
if u actually view the stats, it depends on the denominator u use... and at least for me i dont consider flying the safest way to travel because if u used number of journeys as the denominator, plan crashes are 1 in a billion. but once u crash chances of survival is minimal. so deaths are approx 100 per billion journeys and 40 per billion journeys for cars. so ya. not safe. the stats we're familiar with uses the denominator of kms travelled and thats not fair on other modes of transport coz of course the plane would be considered safest coz it travels the largest distances traditionally and therefore the deaths per km traveled will be extremely low compared to other modes of transport. stupid and not fair.. very very cunning and misleading..
Vote up! Vote down!
0
upshotmatt
Jun 14, 09 6:41 PM CDT
better than the safety record of an automobile Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+2
NutsInNY
Jun 14, 09 11:05 PM CDT
Dick Cheney must be bummed! Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+3

View all 6 comments »

LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

64 Stories

UPDATED

 168 Dead in 
 Iran Plane Crash 


Jul 15, 09 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Russian-made passenger plane traveling from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan crashed in northwest Iran today, killing all 168 people aboard, Iranian state media reports. Television footage showed the smoking wreckage of the plane, and one official said it burst into flames while still airborne. A representative from... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • plane crash • air disasters • Armenia • airplane • Caspian Airlines

(Newser) - A wedding bouquet in Italy failed to predict the next bride-to-be, but it did succeed in downing a small plane, the Guardian reports. Hoping to spice up the proceedings, the wedding party entrusted the bouquet to a man who flew overhead in an ultra-light aircraft. When he attempted to... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Italy • wedding • plane crash • airplane • bouquet • Pisa • ultra-light aircraft

Thirteen Bodies, Plane Wreckage Found Near Tanzania

Remains suspected to be from Yemenia flight

Jul 7, 09 3:52 PM CDT
(Newser) - Thirteen bodies found off the coast of Tanzania’s Mafia Island may be the remains of passengers from the Yemen Airways flight that crashed into the Indian Ocean last week, Reuters reports. Tanzanian authorities say that airplane seats and what may be part of an airplane wing were also found... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Africa • flight • Tanzania • plane crash • Indian Ocean • Comoros • accident • remains • bodies • Yemenia Air

64 Stories


Third week of search focuses on black boxes
AFP

Merchant ship finds 447 debris
Bloomberg


World 
TwitterFollow @NewserWorld on Twitter

 
Atlantic Ocean • plane crash • bodies • airplane • terrorist attack • Air France • Air France Flight 447

from our news partners