Air France Pilot's Body Found

Crash victims pulled from wreckage could be preserved by icy depths

(NEWSER) - A French search team has pulled another 75 victims of the Air France Flight 447 crash out of the briny depths in recent days, a spokesman for the French military police said today. He would not say what condition the bodies were in, but Reuters notes that the first two bodies recovered from the crash—who were found still strapped to their airline seats at a depth of 12,800 feet—were well-preserved thanks to the icy temperatures at that depth. More»

Robots find cabin and engines of crashed jet

(NEWSER) - Underwater robots have located the bodies of some of those who died in the Air France flight 447 crash two years ago, France’s Ecology Minister revealed on the radio today. “We have bodies… there are bodies that are still in the parts that have been found,” the minister said, according to CNN . Yesterday investigators said they’d found bits of debris , but now “it seems that we have discovered the wreckage site,” said another minister. The AP reports that the plane’s engines and part of its cabin have been found along with the bodies. More»

(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. 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»

Autopilot shut off hours into flight; captain was resting

(NEWSER) - Air France Flight 447 slowed, stalled, then began a 3.5-minute plunge into the Atlantic, the investigation into the 2009 crash has found. The autopilot system on the Airbus 330 cut off just after pilots told the cabin crew of coming turbulence; the younger of the two co-pilots then aimed the nose higher—but the plane’s angle was too high to achieve lift, Reuters notes. At some 38,000 feet, the Airbus stalled. More»