Air France 'black box' recorder: signals detected
Air France 'black box' recorder: signals detected
Signals from the 'black box' flight recorder of the Air France plane that crashed in the Atlantic have been detected. France's Le Monde newspaper reports that a very weak signal has been picked up.
The Air France flight disappeared en-route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1. Wreckage and bodies from the plane have since been recovered off the coast of Brazil. However, teams have been desperately searching for the black box data recorders, which only emit signals for up to 30 days.
It is thought that the signal detected by the 'Nautile' mini submarine yesterday could have been from the plane's data recorders. Nevertheless, a spokesperson for BEA, the French authority carrying out the enquiry, said that the black box had not yet been located.
The search for the black box has been extremely difficult and it was feared it may never be located. Signals from the flight recorders can be detected up to 2,000 metres away. Authorities think the recorders could be anything up to 5,000 metres under the Atlantic, where the visibility is practically nil.
A further statement from BEA is expected later today. 228 people were aboard the plane when it crashed into the Atlantic. 50 bodies have so far been recovered, 11 of those have now been identified using dental records and finger prints.
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