Nation & World

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Navy sticks to plan for sonar range 6/27/09 • NTSB probes Airbus incidents 6/26/09 • Air France: Flight 447 pilot's body retrieved 6/25/09 • No black box signals from Flight 447, official says 6/23/09   CONTACT THE HERALD Do you have a news tip? newstips@heraldnet.com | 425.339.3400   Published: Friday, June 26, 2009 Search for Airbus flight recorders likely to go on Associated Press SAO PAULO -- The search for the black boxes of the Airbus jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean will likely continue for at least another 16 days, even though their audio beacons are likely fading away, an American officer said today. Brazilian and French searchers have recovered large chunks of debris and 51 bodies from Air France Flight 447, which disappeared with 228 people on board late May 31. But experts say the black boxes may be key to deciding what brought the airliner down. And signals from the voice and data recorders begin to fade after about 30 days. "We'll have a better idea July 1 on how much longer we'll go," said U.S. Air Force Col. Willie Berges, the Brazil-based commander of the American military forces supporting the search He said the French and Brazilians will make the final decision on when to stop the hunt. Berges said searchers were likely to keep going 12 to 15 days past the 30-day mark of the crash. A French nuclear submarine and two French-contracted ships towing U.S. Navy listening devices are trolling a search area with a radius of 50 miles off Brazil's northeastern coast where it is believed the plane crashed. The black boxes send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1.25 miles away. With the recorders still missing, accident investigators have focused on automated messages sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact. One indicates the plane was receiving incorrect speed information from external instruments, which could destabilize the plane's control systems. Experts have suggested those external instruments might have iced over. Air France has now replaced the monitors, called Pitot tubes, on all its Airbus A330 and A340 aircraft. On Thursday, U.S. safety officials said they were investigating two incidents in which airspeed and altitude indications in the cockpits of A330 planes may have malfunctioned. The aircraft are the same type as the Air France plane that crashed. In both cases the planes landed safely, and no one was injured, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a statement. READER COMMENTS Be the first to comment. You must be a registered user and verify your e-mail address to post comments to blogs or articles on HeraldNet. To register, click here. To read other terms and conditions, click here. Log out

1. Trooper rear-ended by suspected drunk driver north of Tulalip 2. Marysville accident backs up I-5 for miles 3. Democrats split over choice for Snohomish County prosecuting attorney 4. Damage persists after off-roading ban in Reiter Foothills 5. Snohomish County stores dangle discounts to grab shoppers 6. New Age of extra income 7. Thanksgiving tradition flourishes at Everett church 8. Transformed Silvertip 9. Toys that reflect racial diversity haled as ‘about time’ 10. Tips for Christmas-tree buying in Snohomish County 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Ruling in the pool • Holiday Lightings & Santa Sightings • Archbishop Murphy takes title • A season of performing arts • Budget numbers have official fuming • Wildcats move on to 2A semifinals • Holiday Bazaars & Fairs Calendar • Edmonds’ Westgate Chapel serves up hospitality for holiday • Mavericks fall • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million