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Still I doubt it is impossible, just that there hasn't been the impetus to increase the length of time.

Impossible, no, but the cost/benefit ratio for either a larger battery (much larger, either 2x or 3x) or a lower power transmitter (meaning less range) isn't worth it. Most FDRs are found almost immediately.
 
I think we can all agree that the debris "seen", but not retrieved, including the alleged airline seat is key.

There's just two things I don't understand.

If it broke up in air, supported by the account of the spanish pilot, where are all the bodies, seats, hand luggage, pillows, blankets, books, newspapers, etc, etc, you know, that fills a transatlantic flight cabin ?

If it was intact when it hit the sea, aside from a decompression (reported in the 24 alerts) which somehow didn't tear the plane apart, or suck all the debris out earlier, we agree the plane would have broken up on impact, again, where is all the bodies and cabin debris ?

We've just got to be looking in the wrong location, by some distance.
 
I think we can all agree that the debris "seen", but not retrieved, including the alleged airline seat is key.

There's just two things I don't understand.

If it broke up in air, supported by the account of the spanish pilot, where are all the bodies, seats, hand luggage, pillows, blankets, books, newspapers, etc, etc, you know, that fills a transatlantic flight cabin ?

If it was intact when it hit the sea, aside from a decompression (reported in the 24 alerts) which somehow didn't tear the plane apart, or suck all the debris out earlier, we agree the plane would have broken up on impact, again, where is all the bodies and cabin debris ?

We've just got to be looking in the wrong location, by some distance.

The ocean currents probably spread the debris out in every direction, and some of it may have sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
 
Hopefully they're close to the blackbox, aren't those in the tail section of the plane?

hmm.. i always thought they were in the front of the cabin near the cockpit

edit: oops just checked wikipedia and it is in the tail section
 
Local news is reporting that the black box pinger has been located under the ocean and the French government has a submersible crew heading to the coordinates. I don't have a link unfortunately, not seeing it posted anywhere yet. I hope the news is true.
 
Local news is reporting that the black box pinger has been located under the ocean and the French government has a submersible crew heading to the coordinates. I don't have a link unfortunately, not seeing it posted anywhere yet. I hope the news is true.
A few American outlets are reporting it, but none across the pond as of yet. I wouldn't trust this just yet. As we know, in the US there tends to be a race to have the story first even if it turns out not to be true. Air France-KLM Group will probably have something on the corporate site soon if this is true.
 
Seems like French authorities are walking away from the search zones (just saw a breaking new flash on tv a couple of hours ago)...
 
And that amount is nowhere near the unit cost of the aircraft. Considering that there will be countless lawsuits and payouts to the families of the victims, that won't get them too far.

Sure it is nowhere the cost of the plane. However I would assume that that amount is actually the residual compensation, that lawsuits and payouts have already been counted out...
 
i'm surprised that the coverage is this small. most commercial airlines insure their aircraft for a combined single limit of US$350M (for small regional airlines in Asia); at least US$1 Billion for US, European & Japanese carriers.

Well the exchange rate is pretty favorable right now :)
 
From press conference: will continue searching for boxes until the 10th, with different techniques afterwards, and apparently the plane did not break up in air, but plunged vertically into the water. (breaking cnn.com)
 
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/07/02/air.france.report/index.html

The Air France plane that crashed last month with 228 people aboard "did not break up or become destroyed in flight," the French air investigation agency announced Thursday.

"The plane went straight down, almost vertically, towards the surface of the water, very very fast."

The Airbus A330 was unable to fly on autopilot at the time of the crash, air accident investigator Alain Bouillard told reporters in Paris.

That was because the autopilot was not receiving speed, wind or direction information, he said.

"These tell us that the plane has to be, in this case, directed by the pilot," he said. He did not immediately say if the pilots were in control of Air France 447.

Investigators will continue searching for the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder -- commonly known as "black boxes" -- until July 10, he said.

"They normally give a signal for 30 days. We will keep listening another 10 days," he said.
 
I never really understood the purpose of black boxes. They don't change the fact that people died, and only serve to satisfy our natural curiosity of how this happened.

I must say that I've probably changed over the years, because I really hope they find that black box within the next 10 days so that they know what happened. :eek:
 
I never really understood the purpose of black boxes. They don't change the fact that people died, and only serve to satisfy our natural curiosity of how this happened.

I must say that I've probably changed over the years, because I really hope they find that black box within the next 10 days so that they know what happened. :eek:

The purpose is to learn from mistakes and of potential wide spread faults so they can then fix the rest of the fleet. thats why when one Concorde crashed they grounded them all.
 
I don't know what would be the worse fate…
Breaking up in mid-air, or hurtling down, straight down, strapped to your seat.

And I doubt the passengers went quietly.

Horrible.
:(

I never really understood the purpose of black boxes. They don't change the fact that people died, and only serve to satisfy our natural curiosity of how this happened.
Same as an autopsy is performed after death.
Not to satisfy prurient curiousity, but to find a cause and hopefully prevent future mistakes..

At least, I hope so. I for one am not interested in hearing the final screams of a couple hundred passengers going… down…
 
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