Hopes pinned on black box to explain A320 ‘disintegration’
Investigators hope to recover the ‘black box’ flight data recorder from the Germanwings crash site today to help explain the plane’s rapid descent and disintegration.
The aircraft’s cockpit voice recorder was found by a helicopter team yesterday and, although damaged, could still provide vital information. It has been sent for analysis.
The A320 plummeted from 38,000ft to 6,800ft in 8 minutes without the pilot making a distress call.
All 150 passengers and crew on board were killed when the plane crashed in a remote part of the French Alps.
Experts have already ruled out the weather, as there were no significant storms in the area, and US officials have said there is no suspicion of terrorism.
Some say the circumstances might indicate engine failure, because of the speed of the plane shortly before the crash at about 350mph.
This is because a pilot would aim to reach 350mph before trying to ‘relight’ the engines after a double engine failure.
The Airbus had started to drop just one minute after reaching cruising altitude of 38,000ft.
Despite initial reports of a distress call, French aviation authorities have since confirmed there was no communication from the pilot.
Reports have emerged in the German media suggesting the plane had been grounded for a few hours on Monday due to technical issues.
Germanwings has confirmed the aircraft had a major inspection in summer 2013 and was last checked the day before the crash.
Experts say aircraft would have been close to the end of its commercial life after more than 24 years’ service.
Airbus said aircraft had originally been delivered to Lufthansa in 1991 and had flown around 58,300 hours in some 46,700 flights.
“Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed and cleared by the authorities for release,” it said.
“The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident of Flight 4U9525.”
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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