Are the automated messages on the EuroCockpit.com site that are allegedly from the Air France jet authentic?”
With black boxes yet to be found from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, investigators are struggling to draw conclusions from physical evidence and a burst of 24 automatic messages sent from the plane in the minutes before it disappeared. A full transcript of the messages provides some new insight, but no answers. An aviation industry official with knowledge of the Air France investigation told The Associated Press that the transcript — found on http://www.eurocockpit.com and first reported by The New York Times on Saturday — was authentic but inconclusive. “There is a lot of information, but not many clues,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to discuss the matter. The official said jets like the Airbus A330 that crashed automatically send such maintenance messages about once a minute during a plane’s flight. They are used by the ground crew to make repairs once a
ew clues from downed Air France jet’s 24 messages By BRADLEY BROOKS and STAN LEHMAN Associated Press Writers RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – A burst of automatic messages sent by Air France Flight 447 offers few concrete clues into what made the plane crash into the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris two weeks ago, an aviation expert said Saturday. The industry official, who has knowledge of the Air France investigation, told The Associated Press that a transcript of the messages posted on the Web site www.eurocockpit.com is authentic but inconclusive. “There is a lot of information, but not many clues,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the matter. The official said jets like the Airbus A330 that crashed automatically send such maintenance messages about once a minute during a plane’s flight. They are used by the ground crew to make repairs once a plane lands. Martin
An industry official who has knowledge of the Air France investigation told the Associated Press on Saturday that a burst of automatic messages sent by Air France Flight 447 shortly before it crashed includes one about a problem with a rudder safety device. However, the official added that while a transcript of the messages posted on the Web site EuroCockpit is authentic, it is also inconclusive. One of the 24 automatic messages sent from the Airbus A330 minutes before it vanished May 31 with 228 doomed passengers on board points to a problem in the ”rudder limiter.” The rudder limiter is a mechanism that limits how far the plane’s rudder can move. Jets like the Airbus A330 that crashed automatically send such maintenance messages about once a minute during a plane’s flight. These messages are used by maintenance personnel to make repairs on the plane once it lands.
