Flight 447 UPDATE:3 More Bodies Found From Air France Flight 447

Flight 447 UPDATE:3 More Bodies Found From Air France Flight 447 despite the fact that bad weather rolled in across the Atlantic Ocean.

A Brazilian ship recovered three more bodies Friday, June12th, 2009,from the Atlantic Ocean, as rescue workers stated that, “weather and currents complicated their job and warned it is unlikely that all the dead from Air France Flight 447 will ever be found.”

That makes the total of forty-four bodies that have been recovered from the Airbus 330 that crashed into the sea May 31st, 20009, en route from Brazil to Paris. Bad weather continued over the search area on Friday making the rescue very difficult and hazardous.

Authorities are hoping that identifying the victims and determining where they were sitting at the time of the plane wreck, will help them determine whether a midair breakup or ocean currents alone account for the large distance across which the bodies were found.

Brazilian Air Force Gen. Ramon Cardoso stated that, “storms and poor visibility have been hindering an aerial search for remnants of the plane.”

Cardoso then stated,”currents that had been carrying bodies and debris toward the West African nation of Senegal were reversing and could bring them closer to Brazilian and French searchers, but the recovery effort still covers a vast area.”

“It is becoming more and more difficult to find and recover bodies and the chances of recovering the bodies of all the passengers of the Air France flight are very remote,” he continued.

Brazil’s military next decision will be to decide next week whether to halt the search for bodies on June 19th, 2009, or extend it for another six days.

The French nuclear submarine Emeraude has begun to probe the deep sea floor for the “black box” recorders that might give the best idea of what happened to Flight 447, plus the U.S. military equipment capable of picking up signals 20,000 feet (6,100 meters) deep will arrive at the scene within days.

A burst of 24 automatic messages that the plane sent during its final minutes of flight show the autopilot was not on, but it was not clear if it was switched off by the pilots or stopped working due to conflicting airspeed readings, perhaps caused by iced-over speed sensors.

Peter Goelz, former managing director of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, stated that, “the evidence uncovered so far, points to a partial midair breakup of the Airbus A330.”

Flight 447 was packed with 228 people and the passengers were likely in their assigned seats as the jet flew into heavy storms, he said.

“If the victims found in one part of the ocean mostly came from one part of the plane, and the victims in the other area came from another part of the plane, that is really telling you something and perhaps what parts of the plane broke apart in the air,” he stated.

Coroners in the northeastern coastal city of Recife began examining 16 of the 44 bodies on Thursday, June 11th, 2009, hoping to identify them through DNA and photos. Other bodies would be flown in Friday from the Brazilian islands of Fernando de Noronha, where they were taken by search ships, to the coroners.

“The first bodies found Saturday, six days after the crash, were recovered about 53 miles (85 kilometers) from bodies recovered later,”the Brazil’s military stated.

“Investigators will calculate how far currents averaging about 5 mph (8 kph) carried the bodies before they were picked up,” stated John Goglia, a former member of the National Transportation Safety Board.

“Finding those bodies that far away or that separate from the debris field is a very important clue, and could indicate a midair breakup or at least that the cabin was opened up,” he stated.

Goelz concluded that “damage to the larger pieces of debris fished from the ocean also may tell experts where the plane broke apart and perhaps why…by forces in the air or by impact with the sea.”

So far, investigators have focused on the possibility that external speed monitors called “Pitot tubes,” might have iced over and given false readings to the plane’s computers.

“Air France ordered Pitot tubes replaced on long range Airbus planes on April 27th, 2009, after pilots noted a loss of airspeed data in a few flights on Airbus A330 and A340 models,” he stated.

“Those incidents were “not catastrophic” and planes with the old pitots are/where considered airworthy,” Gourgeon stated.

French and U.S. officials have stated there were no signs of terrorism, and Brazil’s defense minister said the possibility wasn’t considered. But France has not ruled out that option.

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