Search teams in the South Atlantic have not turned up any trace of the crashed Air France Airbus A330 in a new exploration zone.
Since 7 May the vessel Seabed Worker, aided by two autonomous underwater vehicles, have been searching for the wreckage of flight AF447 in an area some 40nm (75km) southwest of the jet's last known position.
This area had been highlighted after a reassessment of acoustic signals obtained by the French nuclear submarine Emeraude in July 2009 suggested it had detected a beacon from the A330's flight recorders.
But the French Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses says that, after ensuring "optimal coverage" of the area during an underwater search "hampered by technical problems", the resources are to be redeployed, to a region further north that was being combed prior to 7 May.
Source: BEA |
Flight AF447 came down in the South Atlantic on 1 June last year while en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
While the search based on the submarine's information did not revealed evidence of the aircraft's wreckage, the BEA says it will collaborate with French Navy personnel to "continue to work on the accuracy of the data".
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news