Fri, May 18, 2012
Aircraft Was On Demonstration Flight
Indonesian special forces have located the cockpit voice recorder from a Russian passenger jet that flew into the side of a volcano, killing 45 people. It is hoped the recording of the plane's veteran pilots could help explain what caused the accident. The instrument’s case was shattered and burned, and had contained both a voice recorder and a flight data recorder, but the latter device remains missing.
The Sukhoi Superjet 100, Russia's first new passenger jet model in two decades was being demonstrated for potential buyers when it flew into Mount Salak at an estimated 480 mph one week ago and exploded. Debris from the twin-engine jet covered the near-vertical flank of the long-dormant volcano. It took days for search teams to find the instrument, partly because it was so badly charred and hidden in heavy brush.
Bloomberg News reports that Gagah Prakoso, spokesman for the Search and Rescue agency said the box was actually painted orange, but the color was burned off in the crash, making it harder to find. It was found early Tuesday and given to investigators later that day. Indonesian experts, aided by their Russian colleagues, were analyzing the voice recorder in a lab in the capital, Jakarta, on Wednesday.
Indonesian authorities are hopeful they might be able to recover the final conversations between the pilot and co-pilot and air traffic control, but said there are no plans to make the transcripts public. (Photo Superjet 100 flight test aircraft provided by Sukhoi)
More News
Aero Linx: JAARS Nearly 1.5 billion people, using more than 5,500 languages, do not have a full Bible in their first language. Many of these people live in the most remote parts of>[...]
'Airplane Bounced Twice On The Grass Runway, Resulting In The Nose Wheel Separating From The Airplane...' Analysis: The pilot reported, “upon touchdown, the plane jumped back>[...]
"Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more t>[...]
"Polaris Dawn, the first of the program’s three human spaceflight missions, is targeted to launch to orbit no earlier than summer 2024. During the five-day mission, the crew >[...]
There Are SO Many Ways To Get YOUR Aero-News! It’s been a while since we have reminded everyone about all the ways we offer your daily dose of aviation news on-the-go...so he>[...]