A French appeals court has overturned manslaughter convictions against Continental Airlines and a mechanic for the crash of an Air France Concorde that killed 113 people on July 25, 2000. The ruling, which came down Nov. 29, 2012, means that, despite their mistakes, they cannot be held criminally responsible for the deaths of the passengers aboard that tragic flight nor for the innocent people killed on the ground.  The Concorde, a high-tech luxury jet, crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris’ … Read more…

According to French investigators at a press conference today, the Air France Airbus A330 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1 hit the water intact, as opposed to having broken apart in flight, as some other reports speculated. Air France Flight 447 was carrying 223 people at the time of the accident.  There were no survivors.  According to the French investigators, an examination of the debris led them to the conclusion that the plane hit the water on … Read more…

According to a recent Christian Science Monitor (CSM) report, further interpretation of the scant few clues that have been revealed to investigators of the Air France Flight 447 crash are suggestive of a scenario that involved the plane’s break-up while in the air. The CSM report cites a Brazilian newspaper claiming that unnamed investigators are saying that an examination of the retrieved bodies, recovered up to 85 miles apart, indicate a possible break-up of the plane before hitting the water.  … Read more…

Airbus, the manufacturer of the A330, is publicly asking for patience on determining what caused Air France Flight 447 to crash into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1 and killed all 228 people on board. Speaking before the Paris Airshow on Saturday, Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders reportedly said, “…it certainly doesn’t provide consolation to the families that if we look at the statistics of flying compared with 30 years ago, the statistics show that the A330 is one of … Read more…

ABC news has put out an article today updating current information on the crash of Air France Flight 447.  To read the latest updates on the investigation, including efforts towards recovering the black box, read the story here.

According to reports, today a French nuclear submarine, the Emeraude, began searching beneath the waters in an area where Air France Flight 447 is believed to have gone down.  The submarine is reportedly employing its “golden ears” in an effort to locate Flight 447’s black boxes by picking up the audible ping they emit.  According to naval officers, “golden ears” is the nickname for crewmen tasked with using the submarine’s sophisticated sonar equipment to detect faint noises underwater. Even with … Read more…

According to reports, Air France is moving to replace the speed sensors on all of their A330 and A340 airplanes.  The freezing of these sensors are one of the speculated causes being investigated in the crash of Air France Flight 447.  Air France reportedly announced their intention to replace the sensors hours after an Air France union recommended pilots not to fly these models until the sensors were replaced. Erick Derivry, spokesman for France’s main pilots’ union, the SNPL, told … Read more…

In October 2008, a Quantas Airbus A330 reportedly dropped from an altitude of 37,000 feet for somewhere between 16 and 20 seconds.  The drop injured 74 people on the flight, 14 of whom were serious with broken bones, lacerations and concussions, according to media sources. After an investigation, the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau’s director of aviation safety investigation told the press that the flight data revealed the cause to be a failure of the plane’s air data internal reference unit.  … Read more…

To date, seventeen bodies have been recovered from the waters surrounding the wreckage of Air France Flight 447.  French authorities are reporting that their vessels have recovered eight bodies and Brazilian authorities have found nine.  Items found in the same area are reportedly confirmed as having come from the jet include two airplane seats, structural components, pieces of the wing section and a briefcase that contained a ticket for the flight. The exact location of the crash has reportedly not … Read more…