Plane searchers spot ocean debris

Plane searchers spot ocean debris

news.bbc.co.uk

Brazilian aircraft searching for an Air France jet which went missing with 228 people aboard in an Atlantic storm have spotted debris on the ocean.

Some oil, a plane seat and other items were sighted 650km (400 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha island, the Brazilian air force said.

The find can only be confirmed once the items are retrieved and the first boat is not due to arrive until Wednesday.

The jet was heading from Brazil to Paris when it vanished early on Monday.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Accident investigators need to recover material from Flight AF 447 and, crucially, the flight and cockpit voice recorders if they are to establish how it fell into the sea, our correspondent says.

Two Lufthansa jets, which were in the same area as the Air France plane half an hour before it vanished, may provide clues as to what happened, the UN weather agency says.



news.bbc.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

I thought that with todays technology we would have full radar coverage of every flight route. I dont know much about aviation but when I step on a plane Id like to think that if that plane came into difficulty a decent rescue team would be dispatched right away.

I cant believe that it has been nearly two days now and they still haven't found the wreckage. If anybody did somehow survive the crash then they would of died by hypothermia by now. Air France should be forced to pay massive compensation to the families of the passengers, and all air lines should be made to pay for better tracking systems.

Its horrible to think what happened, but worse to think that we still aint got to the crash site!

Originally posted by Damien_uk
I thought that with todays technology we would have full radar coverage of every flight route.

No, not currently. Full radar coverage is sort of restricted to land really. You gotta remember that lots of different countries are involved and I don't think there is any kind of universal system available.

There are other methods than radar, GPS is probably the most important and the data could be sent via radio. The plane seemed to have some radio lin as an automated message was sent - I think it was an electrical fault that the plane reported back to the ground?

But the ocean is a huge place, once you get out a certain distance you would only show up on some sort of ship borne radar, like if you flew within a couple hundred miles of a larger navel vessel.

I thought I would bump your thread with an update:

news.yahoo.com...

Brazil confirms Air France jet crashed in ocean

FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil – Brazilian military planes found a 3-mile (5-kilometer) path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, confirming that an Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesday. Jobim told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that the discovery "confirms that the plane went down in that area," hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

Now_Then, your little swimming avatar dealie is mesmerising.
I couldn't stop staring... and Homer Simpsons voice in my head saying "Mmmmmmm..."

Anyway, don't airplanes have some sort of transponder (?) or whatever it's called that transmits its location in such an event? Even cars equipped with OnStar can automatically send a signal and location when involved in an accident.

Story Highlights

No survivors found in wreckage of Flight 447 in Atlantic Ocean

2 debris fields found about 80 kilometers east of the plane's expected flight path

Life vest, seat among items found in Atlantic, say Brazilian aviation officials

Flight 447, traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was carrying 228 people

www.cnn.com...

Just posted on CNN about 5 minutes ago....Thought you would want to see it.

Wow, it must of been nearly 2 weeks by now and it seems they are still looking for the main body of the plane! I dont think we will ever find out what happened out there.