French investigators: Search for Flight 447 black boxes continuing even as signals set to fade

September 4th, 2009 Black boxes from Yemenia Airways flight damagedPARIS — A Comoran investigator says the black boxes from a Yemenia Airways flight that crashed into the Indian Ocean in June are damaged. Mohamed Ali Abdou says investigators are still trying to recover the information held in the flight's black boxes.

August 20th, 2009 French end search for Flight 447 black boxesPARIS — French investigators said Thursday they have abandoned a second round of search efforts for the black box flight recorders from Air France Flight 447, believed to be resting in the depths of the Atlantic. The Airbus jet crashed into the ocean June 1 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, killing all 228 people aboard.

July 30th, 2009 French begin new search for Air France black boxesPARIS — A French oceanographic survey ship has begun scanning the Atlantic Ocean floor, a new phase in the hunt for Air France Flight 447's black boxes now that they are no longer emitting signals, investigators said Thursday. The Airbus 330 crashed into the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1, killing all 228 people onboard.

July 23rd, 2009 French navy homes in on Comoros crash black boxesPARIS — A French navy vessel has pinpointed the location of the black boxes of a Yemenia Airways plane that crashed into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands, the ship's captain said Thursday. Comoran and French authorities are still investigating the cause of the June 30 crash that left a 12-year-old girl as the only known survivor out of 153 people aboard.

July 10th, 2009 Ships ending search for Air France black boxesRIO DE JANEIRO — Two ships using U.S. listening devices to search for the black boxes of Air France Flight 447 were ending their hunt Friday, an American commander said.

July 7th, 2009 Official: Comoros black boxes too deep for diversNAIROBI, Kenya — Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from a plane that plunged into the Indian Ocean with 153 people onboard are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said Tuesday. Yemenia Airways Flight 626 crashed into the Indian Ocean north of the Comoros Islands a week ago.

July 2nd, 2009 French investigators release report on Flight 447LE BOURGET, France — French investigators on Thursday will present their initial findings into what caused Air France Flight 447 to drop out of the sky in the middle of the Atlantic a month ago, prompting one of history's most challenging plane crash investigations. The Airbus A330-200 plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris went down with 228 people on board in a remote area of the Atlantic, 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) off Brazil's mainland and far from radar coverage.

June 27th, 2009 Search ends for bodies from Air France crashSAO PAULO — Brazil has ended the search for more bodies from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last month, calling the task "impossible," but the search for the jet's flight recorders will go on. 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.

June 26th, 2009 Search for Air France recorders likely to go onSAO PAULO — Brazil called off the search for more bodies and debris from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean but an American officer said the search for the black boxes would likely continue for at least another 16 days. 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.

June 25th, 2009 Air France: Flight 447 pilot's body retrievedPARIS — Search crews in the mid-Atlantic have retrieved the bodies of the chief pilot of Flight 447 and a flight attendant, Air France said Thursday. The two are among 50 bodies pulled out of the ocean in the international search for remains of the 228 victims and wreckage of the May 31 crash.

June 23rd, 2009 Report: Signals heard from Flight 447 black boxesPARIS — The French newspaper Le Monde reported Tuesday that French military ships have detected a signal from the black boxes of Flight 447 in the Atlantic depths. The report says a mini research submarine, the Nautile, dived Monday to search for the boxes based on a "very weak signal" from the flight recorders picked up by the French ships.

June 23rd, 2009 PARIS - Signals from the flight data recorder, or the black boxes of the Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic ocean killing all 228 passengers onboard, has been located. "A French naval vessel has detected a weak signal from the flight data recorders, and a mini submarine was dispatched on Monday to try and find the black boxes at the bottom of the ocean floor," The Telegraph quoted a French newspaper Le Monde.

June 23rd, 2009 Official: No black box signals from Flight 447 PARIS — A French official says sounds detected by search teams in the Atlantic depths are not those of Flight 447's black boxes. The aide to France's top transport official, Jean-Louis Borloo, says the "black boxes have not been detected." The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to be publicly named.

June 23rd, 2009 Officials: No black box signals from Flight 447PARIS — French military ships searching for the black boxes of Flight 447 have detected sounds in the Atlantic depths but they are not from the Air France plane's flight recorders, French officials said Tuesday. The officials and French investigators denied a report on the Web site of the French newspaper Le Monde that French ships had picked up a signal from the black boxes.

June 17th, 2009 French: 400 pieces of Air France debris foundLE BOURGET, France — Search teams have recovered more than 400 pieces of debris from Air France Flight 447 but investigators still do not know why the plane crashed into the Atlantic, the French accident chief said Wednesday. Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of the French air accident investigation agency BEA, expressed "a little more optimism" about the investigation as the discovery of so much debris has narrowed the vast search zone off the northeast coast of Brazil.