Crash mystery tests limits of technology
As the investigation into the crash of Air France 447 continues, French navy ships will place a receiver into the ocean to see if it can pick up any signal from the black boxes.
The search will cost millions of dollars and involve sophisticated military equipment. It also could ignite a debate about whether airplanes should be equipped with recorders that float.
The Transportation Security Administration, prodded by lawmakers for years, plans this summer to test a recorder that detaches from an airplane in a crash, agency spokeswoman Kristin Lee said.
Flying into storms to be avoided – pilots
Under most circumstances, airline pilots tend to be calm, cool, and collected. However, when asked about flying through thunderstorms, they all tend to answer the same way, “Don’t.”
Pilots tend to avoid flying into thunderstorms even though modern aircraft can withstand them.
“My personal record was a diversion of almost 300 nautical miles just to circumnavigate a large area of showers over the western Atlantic Ocean near Florida,” said Evert van Zwol, president of the Dutch pilots’ association VNV.
“You don’t go into this sort of weather lightly. It’s nasty for the passengers and can be alarming for us,” said Tim Armstrong, a former 747 captain for Singapore Airlines.
Walsh: BA in a ‘fight for survival’
British Airways CEO Willie Walsh says that “the carrier ‘is in a fight for survival‘ and cautioned that temporary solutions ‘just aren’t enough.’”
His warning follows the release of grim financial results for the fiscal year ended March 31, when BA reported a record consolidated net loss of £358 million ($584.4 million).
