Photos of Recovered Air France 447 Flight Data Recorder

Monday, May 02, 2011 at 07:51 PM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The flight data recorder (FDR) from Air France Flight 447 was successfully recovered from a depth of 12,800 feet, one month after the first signs of wreckage were found.
Investigators hope to recover vital information from the FDR to determine the cause of the 2009 crash, though the extent of recoverable data after its long submersion is uncertain.
The recovery was aided by earlier discoveries of the aircraft's auxiliary power unit and the FDR's chassis.

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Searchers unearth the flight data recorder from the AF 447 wreckage. The find comes one month after the first signs of Air France 447 beneath the Atlantic.**
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AF 447 Flight Data Recorder Recovered — **The flight data recorder was brought to the surface and is being shipped to BEA headquarters in France, where investigators hope to recover vital information about what caused the 2009 crash. What data will still be recoverable after the black box’s long stay thousands of feet below the Atlantic is currently unknown.
** BEA

AF 447 Flight Data Recorder Discovered by Searchers — Th****e data recorder was found at a depth of 12,800 ft. The unit is designed to withstand at least 30 days of submersion in 20,000 feet of seawater. BEA

AF Auxiliary Power Unit — A few days prior to the discovery of the flight data recovery, searchers found the Airbus A330’s auxiliary power unit. BEA

AF 447 Chassis — Earlier last week, searchers recovered the chassis of the A330’s flight data recorder nearby other debris from the airplane. BEA

AF Flight Data Recorder and Chassis — **The earlier discovery of the chassis helped lead searchers to the crash-survivable memory unit, which contains instrument information from the A330, but not voice recordings from the crew members.
** BEA

Air France 447 Wreckage Search — **The recent AF 447 wreckage search was conducted by team members aboard the cable vessel Ile de Sein, which came to the accident site equipped with a Remora 6000 submarine.
** BEA

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