Air France Crash Investigation: Navy Listening Device Deployed to Detect Black Box Signals

The investigation into the crash of Air France Flight 447, which killed 228 people on May 31, has reached a critical juncture with the deployment of a high-tech, U.S. Navy listening device to detect emergency audio beacons, or pings, from the black boxes. The Towed Pinger Locator, capable of searching to a depth of 20,000 feet, will operate in a grid pattern with 10-person teams watching for signals on computer screens. The search area, which includes some of the deepest waters of the Atlantic, poses a significant challenge, with the signals from the black boxes expected to fade in two weeks.

Key Takeaways:

• The Navy's Towed Pinger Locator device will be used to detect emergency audio beacons, or pings, from Flight 447's black boxes, which could be lying thousands of meters below the ocean surface.
• The device is capable of searching to a depth of 20,000 feet (6,100 meters), and the search area includes some of the deepest waters of the Atlantic.
• The locator device is being towed by a Dutch ship in a grid pattern, with 10-person teams watching for signals on computer screens.
• The search area poses a significant challenge, with the signals from the black boxes expected to fade in two weeks.
• External speed monitors, or Pitot tubes, are one of the areas of focus for investigators, who believe they may have iced over and given false readings to the plane's computers.
• Airbus' parent company, EADS, has stated that there was probably more than one reason for the crash, with the head of the company, Louis Gallois, saying that it's the convergence of different causes that created the accident.
• Investigators hope to find the black box to determine the cause of the crash.

Sources:

• [Source 1] - Interview with U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, commander of the American military forces supporting the search operation
• [Source 2] - Comments released by EADS CEO Louis Gallois in Paris