BLACK BOXES LOCATED
Lragir.am
11 May 06
The experts searching for the Armenian A320, which crashed on May 3,
have located the black boxes of the plane, which is lying at the bottom
of the sea, at a depth of 600 meters. The news was reported by one
of the heads of the search team to Ria Novosti. The measurement of
the French apparatus was confirmed by the Russian apparatus Kalmar
designed for underwater work, said the head of the search team. On
May 12 Kalmar will be lowered to the bottom of the sea to confirm
the location of the black boxes.
Experts say the French are highly interested in finding the black
boxes. They hope that the records of the black boxes will refute the
suggestions that the equipment of the aircraft went out of order. At
the same time, the rescuers have only 20 days to take the black boxes
out of water, for these black boxes transmit radio signals within 30
days after a crash. Then the charge runs low. Hence, the search team
has only 22 days. “Our time is limited,” said Alexander Davidenko,
the head of the search team, in an interview with Interfax. The
experts need to decide how to lift the black boxes.
Robot-manipulators must be used, which presently are not available
because the Russian ships, equipped to locate and lift objects from
6000 meters, cannot be used for the search. “These ships are in
different parts of the ocean and cannot reach here in such a short
period of time,” said Davidenko to Interfax. In the meantime, the
airport of Adler refuted the information about the disappearance of
the dispatcher. The airport reported that the dispatcher is in service
and will be working on May 12. The officers of the Interstate Aviation
Committee have already interrogated the dispatcher. The head of the
Department of Investigation of Air Accidents Aleksey Morozov stated
May 11 that immediately before the crash the dispatcher instructed the
crew of A320 to stop landing and gain height, turning to the right. The
aircraft began gaining height, however, it soon began to go down and
plunged into the sea. The Interstate Aviation Committee reported that
the last communication between the aircraft and the dispatcher was
recorded at 2.12.34 Moscow time. At 2.13.2 the aircraft disappeared
from the screen of the radar.