AF: 'Multiple technical failures' on A330; Brazil's air force spots debris

Air France CEO Pierre-Henry Gourgeon said the A330-200 carrying 228 passengers and crew that crashed late Sunday into the Atlantic Ocean experienced "multiple technical failures," and the Brazilian air force yesterday spotted debris where a TAM flight crew had seen spots of fire on the ocean surface shortly after the A330 was suspected to have gone down.

While no cause has been identified, Gourgeon said AF447 "had sent a succession of a dozen datalink technical messages" indicating that "several electrical systems had broken down. . .It is probable that it was shortly after these messages that the impact in the Atlantic came" (ATWOnline, June 2).

TAM said pilots flying one of its A330s between Europe and Rio de Janeiro Sunday night spotted "glowing spots on the high sea" that they believed were burning debris. Yesterday the Brazilian air force confirmed the sighting, saying it observed a 3-mi. area of debris around 400 mi. northeast of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, which is about 220 mi. off Brazil's northeast coast.

The air force first described seeing aircraft seats and other debris surrounded by an oil slick, and later said it saw multiple metallic pieces as well as other objects. "The locations where the objects were found are toward the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted," an air force spokesperson told reporters. The ocean is believed to be 2,000 m.-4,800 m. deep at the crash site, which officials said could complicate efforts to find the flight data and cockpit voice recorders. Brazil said it was sending navy ships to the scene.

As the search for aircraft parts continues, the accident investigation is focusing on a severe thunderstorm system that stretched across the Atlantic just south of the equator at the suspected time of the crash.

There have been suggestions by some that the accident may be linked with the two Qantas A330 air data inertial reference unit incidents last year (ATWOnline, March 9). However, the AF A330's ADIRUs were made by Honeywell while the Qantas aircraft are fitted with Northrop Grumman equipment.