WORLD> America
|
WORLD> America
|
|
Air France: No hope of survivors in Atlantic
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-04 20:43
Three minutes after that, more automatic messages reported the failure of systems to monitor air speed, altitude and direction. Control of the main flight computer and wing spoilers failed as well. The last automatic message, at 11:14 p.m., signaled loss of cabin pressure and complete electrical failure -- catastrophic events in a plane that was likely already plunging toward the ocean. Air France spokesman Nicolas Petteau referred questions about the messages to the French accident investigation agency, BEA, whose spokesman Martine Del Bono said the agency declined to comment. Brazil's defense minister Nelson Jobim also declined to comment. Other experts agreed that the automatic reports of system failures on the plane strongly suggest it broke up in the air, perhaps due to fierce thunderstorms, turbulence, lightning or a catastrophic combination of events. "These are telling us the story of the crash. They are not explaining what happened to cause the crash," said Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation in Alexandria, Va.
|
