FLIGHT DATA OF CRASHED AIRBUS TO BE DECIPHERED IN RUSSIA

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 24 2006

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SOCHI, May 24 (RIA Novosti) – The flight data from an Armenian Airbus
that crashed into the Black Sea May 3, killing 113 people, will be
deciphered in Russia, an official said Wednesday.

Tatiana Anodina, head of the Interstate Aviation Committee, said
French equipment could be used for deciphering the data.

The recovery operation at the scene of the tragedy was officially
declared over earlier Wednesday.

Rudolf Teimurazov, a representative of the Interstate Aviation
Committee, said earlier experts would need about a fortnight to
decipher the data.

He said the two black boxes, the second of which was recovered early
Wednesday morning from a depth of about 500 meters (1,640 feet),
would be handed over to the committee’s experts within the timeframe
set by a government commission.

“A government commission working at the crash site will set the date
for handing over the flight recorders to the Interstate Aviation
Committee,” he said. “Usually it takes experts about 15 days to
decipher flight data.”

He also said cockpit flight recorder’s information was on a magnetic
tape but the flight data from the other black box was on a hard drive.

The airliner, operated by Armenia’s Armavia, crashed while flying
from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in stormy weather 6 kilometers
(3.7 miles) from Russia’s Adler airport, which services the popular
resort of Sochi.