EgyptAir Black Boxes Undergo Tests
June 19 2016 - 10:00PM
Dow Jones News
Investigators probing the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 said
Sunday they were performing tests on the plane's two "black boxes"
before trying to extract data as they attempt to unravel why the
Airbus Group SE A320 plunged into the Mediterranean Sea last
month.
Work on the cockpit voice and flight data recorders, which were
recovered late last week, began at a specialized facility in Cairo
on Saturday, the Egyptian-led investigation team said. Initial
preparations to read the digital memory units took about 8 hours,
they said.
The black boxes offer the best clues to determining why Flight
804Â crashed May 19, killing all 66 people onboard. The plane was
bound for Cairo from Paris when it deviated from its course while
cruising at 37,000 feet, first turning left before rolling to the
right and completing a full circle, investigators have said. They
have not ruled out any cause for the crash.
The Egyptian team is being assisted by crash investigators from
France and the U.S. Black box-maker Honeywell International Inc.
also is providing assistance.
A flight data recorder is designed to store technical parameters
for the last 25 hours of a plane's operations. It monitors basic
information such as aircraft speed and altitude, but also smoke
alarms, autopilot mode and control inputs made by the crew. The
cockpit voice recorder retains the last two hours of conversation
between the crew.
Egyptian officials said Friday that the data analysis "may take
several weeks," though safety experts have suggested early
conclusions can be drawn more quickly.
Flight 804 broadcast a number of fault messages before all
contact was lost indicating possible smoke in the nose of the
plane, including a critical electronic-equipment hub beneath the
cockpit. The messages alone haven't proved sufficient to determine
a likely cause for the crash, investigators have said.
Radar data also indicated there wasn't a sudden explosion that
tore the plane apart midair. The flight's black box data should
allow investigators to determine the sequence of events on board
and what actions the crew may have taken to deal with them.
Egypt has built up its technical expertise to extract and
analyze information from black boxes. Authorities have said that
minor damage to the devices, which can occur even though black
boxes are designed to withstand severe impact, could be repaired
locally, though the devices might have to be sent abroad if major
repairs are needed.
Investigators also said that a specialized vessel, the John
Lethbridge, belonging to Deep Ocean SearchLtd., was continuing to
map the debris field of the plane's wreckage. The ship was used to
recover the black boxes from a depth of depth of around 3,000
meters (9,843 feet).
Write to Robert Wall at robert.wall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 19, 2016 21:45 ET (01:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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