Signals Detected, but Officials Deny They're Flight 447's

Key devices could be beyond reach of deep-sea divers

(NEWSER) - The black boxes from the missing Air France jet are crucial to determining what brought the plane down, but locating the devices could present the most daunting challenge since the Titanic mission, Reuters reports. “You are looking for a needle in a haystack,” said one industry specialist, guessing recovery could take months, especially if the boxes are beyond divers’ reach. More»

Neither co-pilot had been trained for sensor malfunctions, new report says

(AP) - The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not appear to know that the plane was in a stall, despite repeated warning signals, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before the jet plunged into the sea, according to new findings released today. Based on cockpit recordings from the crash, the French air accident investigation agency is recommending mandatory training for all pilots to help them fly planes manually and handle a high-altitude stall. More»

Investigation among most complex and expensive in history

(AP) - French investigators have recovered all the flight data and cockpit voice recordings from the recorders of an Air France jet found in the Atlantic nearly two years after it crashed, they said today. The recorders were located by underwater robots and hoisted from depths of some 13,000 feet earlier this month , in one of the most expensive and complicated air crash investigations in history. Investigators and victims' families are hoping the recorders will shed light on what sent Flight 447 into the sea on June 1, 2009, as it traveled from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. More»

Investigators hope for clues in 2009 plane crash

(NEWSER) - On the heels of recovering the black box from the doomed Air France flight that fell out of the sky off the Brazilian coast nearly two years ago, French investigators have pulled the cockpit recorder from the depths of the Atlantic, reports the AP. It's not yet certain whether the recorder has held up to the ocean pressure that comes with a resting place 12,800 feet below sea level. But investigators have said they have no shot of determining the cause of the crash without the devices. "It is my heartfelt hope that the data contained in these flight recorders may be used and provide answers," said Air France's CEO in a statement. Click for more on the lost Air France plane. More»

(AP) - Brazilian searchers found a large tail section from an Air France jet today, one of the biggest pieces yet recovered from wreckage that could help narrow the search for Flight 447's black boxes. A US Navy team is bringing in high-tech underwater listening devices to detect pings from the data and voice recorders. Brazilian and French military ships had so far recovered 16 bodies and large amounts of plane wreckage—reduced from the 17 reported yesterday. More»