Searchers Find AF447 Debris

[moose135]

From the New York Times

Plane Crash Parts Found in Atlantic
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 3, 2011 at 5:50 PM ET

PARIS (AP) — Underwater search teams have located pieces of an Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic in 2009, French investigators said Sunday, offering a surprising new glimmer of hope in the protracted hunt for clues to what happened.

Previous extensive and expensive search efforts proved futile in attempts to shed light on the cause of the crash. All 228 people aboard Flight 447, en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, were killed when the plane slammed into the ocean during an intense high-altitude thunderstorm. The French air accident investigation agency BEA said in a statement Sunday night that a team aboard the expedition ship Alucia "has located pieces of an aircraft ... in the last 24 hours.

This was the fourth search mission looking for the wreckage of Flight 447. The BEA is reportedly going to hold a press conference on Monday with more information. The initial reports do not offer details on what debris was found, but that it appears to be a fairly concentrated debris field, which would confirm earlier beliefs that the aircraft hit the ocean intact, rather than breaking up in flight.

[Delta777LR]

hopefully the black boxes would be recovered.. but they may not even work, being in water for about 2 years but who knows

[moose135]

CNN story includes photo of a landing gear and other debris. Early reports are that searchers found both engines, parts of the wing, and fuselage sections as well.

[sporky]

Wow talk about finding a needle in a haystack. Awesome. Maybe some definitive answers can be achieved now.

-Tad