Flight AF 447 on 1^st june 2009

A330-203, registered F-GZCP

Press release, 4 May 2010: Update on the sea searches

After reporting to Mr Dominique Bussereau, Secretary of State for Transport, on the sea searches, the BEA has, at the Secretary’s request, prepared a further stage in the operations. The BEA believes that it is in fact still possible to localize the airplane wreckage in or near the zone that has just been explored. It is thus considered appropriate to use the equipment that has already been mobilized and is available to continue the operations as quickly as possible.

The US Navy’s ROV’s and sonar, installed on board the “Anne Candies”, will now be unavailable due to their being mobilized for a military operation. In addition, the AUV belonging to Geomar must now participate in scientific research. Consequently, the searches will be continued with the Norwegian ship the Seabed Worker and two AUV’s.

After consultation, Airbus and Air France have accepted to participate, each with 1.5 million Euros, in the financing of this continuation of phase 3 of the searches.

During a technical stopover for 48 hours in Recife, the crews and teams associated with the investigation were changed over.

The « Seabed Worker », equipped with two Remus 6000 autonomous underwater vehicles from the American Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Triton ROV, left Recife on the morning of Friday 30 April and arrived in the zone during the night of 2 May. Operations began during the day of 3 May.

They are currently aimed at covering the peripheral areas of the initial search zone and at clearing up remaining doubts. The searches will continue in the following order:

1. a zone adjacent to the initial search zone and situated to the north-west of the last known airplane position;
2. the zone already covered situated in the initial search zone whose exploration appears to be required again due to the extremely rough terrain;
3. finally, the northern part of the rectangle defined by the scientific work.

The search operations in the zone will be completed around 25 May.

This morning, the BEA met with the representatives of the « Entraide et Solidarité AF 447 » association, at their request, to give an update on the sea searches.