June 9 (Bloomberg) — Brazil’s military recovered wreckage from Air France flight 447 that may indicate what caused the jet to plunge into the Atlantic Ocean last week, as search teams pulled more bodies from the water.
“Hundreds of pieces of the crashed plane have been retrieved,” Brazilian Air Force Colonel Henry Munhoz told reporters yesterday. While Munhoz declined to comment on reports the plane’s tail fin was found, a piece of debris in the shape of a tail fin was retrieved by search teams.
Brazilian and French teams yesterday pulled eight bodies from the ocean, taking the total to 24. The Airbus SAS A330-200 went down June 1 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, carrying 216 passengers and 12 crewmembers. There were no survivors.
French ships and submarines equipped with underwater listening devices are trying to locate the jet’s flight data recorders, known as black boxes, which may provide clues as to what caused the crash.
Investigators are examining whether ice damage or the obstruction of the jet’s airspeed sensors caused unreliable readings, which may have contributed to the accident. Air France says it began replacing the component with a more ice-resistant version in late April, 18 months after Airbus advised customers to make the switch.
Alter, the Paris-based carrier’s third-largest pilots’ union, yesterday urged members to refuse to fly A330s until at least two of the three components on the planes have been upgraded.
The union’s demands will have “no effect” on Air France services, said Brigitte Barrand, a spokeswoman at the airline. The carrier’s 35 A330s and A340s each have at least one of the upgraded sensors already installed, and nine have two, she said.
Accurate airspeed readings are pivotal because flying too fast can damage a plane’s airframe and traveling too slowly produces an “aerodynamic stall” and loss of control.
Following the crash, Air France and Toulouse, France-based Airbus issued reminders to pilots of procedures to follow when measurements become unreliable.
The plane maker recommended in September 2007 that airlines replace the Thales SA speed sensors, known as Pitot tubes, on single-aisle A320-series planes as well as the A330 and A340. Air France said June 6 it waited until April to begin installing the new sensors because it wasn’t until the beginning of this year that their high-altitude effectiveness for the A330 was demonstrated in lab tests.
US Airways Group Inc. began replacing its A330s’ airspeed sensors following the accident “out of an abundance of caution,” said Morgan Durrant, a spokesman. Dublin-based Aer Lingus Group Plc is also “prioritizing modification” of two A330s carrying the older model in response to the crash, Enda Corneille, a spokesman at the Irish airline, said in an e-mail.
Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s biggest carrier, said it is upgrading its Airbus A330s under plans made before the accident, without disclosing how many of the planes have already received the new parts.
Caroline Philips, a spokeswoman for Neuilly-sur-Seine, France-based Thales, said the manufacturer had no comment while the investigation is under way.
We offter all kinds of puma products such as men puma trionfo low baylee, men puma future cat to engine, men puma future cat GT ferrari. men puma future cat low, men puma lazy insect, men puma SF drift cat, men puma speed cat, men puma speed cat big, women puma SF drift cat, women puma speed cat big, women puma basket brights, women puma future cat low, women puma engine cat low and so on.We only provide Top quality products. We promise the quality and offer the best price for you.Welcome you to visit our website and look for the style you are interested in.
welcome to our website www.salepuma.com
email: zhuxiaoxia@b2bsharing.com