The next stage of the search will be funded by Air France, Airbus and the French government. Outside observers were banned from recent investigation agency meetings and no experts have been hired nor equipment scheduled for the search. So family members are not happy, first because there’s no input, and second because the powers that be are still dragging their feet as well as playing politics.

How are they playing politics, you ask? Recently Air France warned pilots to be more vigilant presaging their position that pilot error was to blame for the Flight 447 crash. Stay tuned, and watch them try to blame the pilots instead of the pitot tubes.

Bear in mind with the pitot tubes clogged with ice, indicators would not show speeds. And on those large jets, if airspeed is a little too high or low, it’s hard for pilots to control the plane

According to the ACARS messages, the rudder travel limiting system had shut down. (It relies on airspeed data.) Without that data, the pilots wouldn’t know how much rudder input was safe. If the tail broke off at that point, it could lead to air velocity that could break up the plane before it hit the water.

Weather photos at the time show that the flight was routed through a storm system. Other flights covering the same territory diverted around the storm, but this would have taken extra fuel.

An examination of the flight plan and the weather system is located here:

http://www.weathergraphics.com

In this case, hindsight is not necessarily clearer than foresight. It is merely a sleight of vision targeted to divert public opinion from the facts of the crash.

Early conclusions from Brazil were that the plane came apart in the air; the French report said that the plane hit the water intact. Perhaps the release of this data will explain the discrepancy of conclusions.

The BEA says they are planning to publish another interim report in 2009.

Airbus dropped the ball. The BEA dropped the ball. EASA dropped the ball.

If they had been doing their jobs, they’d have caught the pitot flaw before this tragedy ever happened.

Somewhere in the water, probably halfway between Brazil and Senegal, the black boxes wait, holding their secrets.

Air France has seen a rise in absenteeism and heard input from pilot unions regarding perceived safety lapses. There have been some safety measures already put in place, including increased pilot training, adjusted safety routines, and conforming to the EASA directive to replace Thales Pitot Tubes.

Maybe Air France should send a similar request to Qantas.

The Thales model DOES freeze; and experts consider that the design flaw is considered is least partially responsible for the Air France flight 447 loss of 228 people who crashed while flying through a storm over the Atlantic.

US Airways and Northwest/Delta are both already in the process of replacing Thales pitot tubes.

The FAA (US) gave carriers 120 days to comply; the EASA (European Air Safety) deadline was last Monday.

(And of course, there’s the fact that France has a vested interest in Air France.)

So far, 1000 pieces of the wreckage have been found, and 51 bodies. Brazilian authorities have not yet shared autopsy results.

In the meantime, they have also announced that the end of the second phase of the search for the black boxes does not mean the end of the search. The four minute ACARS transmission that was received which reported 5 failures and 19 warnings does not contain the richness of data as both black boxes. Thus far, the data shows that the plane’s speed was inconstant, and the pilot had had to revert to manual control. It is conjectured that the storm created icing that overwhelmed the three standard issue Thales pitot tubes.

France is looking to optimize (i.e. share the cost). They have their hands out, looking for more money and resources to expand the search, with tens of millions of euros from Airbus and additonal international resources anticipated from the United States, Brazil, Britain and Germany. Arslanian compared the next phase (sonar and robots) of the search to “crossing Switzerland by foot, trying firstly to listen out for the noise of a cricket and now looking for debris with a pocket torch in the dark” referring to the shear size of the area and its mountainous topography.

Eurocockpit, a French-language website run by pilots has stated that the pitot problem was known issue, and that before the fatal crash (which was the 36th recorded pitot tube problem), Air France was already in the process of replacing A330 and A340 pitot tubes.

The assurance that the search is ongoing may be a response to the concerted effort of Flight 447 French and Brazilian survivor families who have been lobbying for action. French prosecutors have opened a preliminary manslaughter investigation with the potential of leading up to charges of negligence.

In Brazil, family members want justice. In Brazil, the victim’s family association has commenced demanding action into “an investigation against the possible culprits of the accident.” The families feel that a crime has been committed, and that those responsible should be found, and to that end, the association has sent their request for criminal prosecution to the the Brazilian Presidency, the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Brazilian National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), the Brazilian National Congress and the Embassy of Brazil in France.

It will be interesting to hear what Air France has to say, and how long it takes them to say it. And while it’s true that the primary responsibility rests on Air France, there are probably a number of other culprits hiding under the furniture. Air France didn’t manufacture the plane, Airbus did. Air France didn’t manufacture the speed sensors, Thales did. Air France didn’t manufacture the communications & computer system, Honeywell did. It’s not just Airbus.

So in the interest of true justice, it is essential to keep an open mind. It remains to be seen what other truths the investigation may yet reveal.