Air France Flight 447 Update for 10 June 2009

Update for 10 June 2009: The number of bodies recovered has increased to 41, and Brazilian authorities have begun the process of identifying bodies. The Brazilian Air Force has also incorporated the recommended change of the pitot system in the presidential aircraft, an A319. Air France has accelerated its effort to replace pitot tubes on its A330 and A340 Airbus fleet after members of one pilots union threatened to refuse to fly the unmodified airplanes. The airline also estimates that all the affected pitot tubes will be replaced by the end of July.


The vertical stabilizer is the largest piece of the aircraft that has been recovered. It shows no outward sign of fire or explosion, and a closer examination of the damage on that stabilizer will provide clues about whether it separated from the rest of the fuselage on impact with the water or while in flight. AirSafe.com will continue to provide updates to the accident investigation as more information becomes available.

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Accident Analysis from 7 June 2009 Issue of the Times (UK)

Air France Flight 447 Update for 9 June 2009

By Tuesday June 9th, the number of bodies recovered increased to 28, and a substantial amount of wreckage has been recovered, including the vertical stabilizer. The bodies and wreckage were recovered about 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northeastern coast, and about 45 miles (70 kilometers) from where the jet was last estimated position. Equipment for locating the beacons attached to the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder is not yet in place, but will be in the next few days.

Naval forces from Brazil, France, and the US will all be actively involved in this search. In other developments, Air France revealed that their entire A330 fleet had been scheduled to have part of their airspeed measuring system replaced, specifically a device called a pitot tube. While some Air France A330 aircraft had the replacement done, the accident aircraft had not. There is no indication that the this device was related to the sequence of events that led to this crash. AirSafe.com will continue to provide updates to the accident investigation as more information becomes available.

Initial AirSafe.com Reports on This Event (4:10)

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