23 JUN 2009 _______________________________________ *Official: No black box signals from Flight 447 *Sounds detected under Atlantic are NOT doomed Air France jet's black box *A330 search has not traced recorder signals: investigators *F-16 crashes at Utah Test and Training Range *Republic offers to buy Frontier for $108.8 million *EU may lift ban on four Indonesian airlines in July **************************************** Official: No black box signals from Flight 447 PARIS (AP) – French military ships searching for the black boxes of Flight 447 have detected sounds in the Atlantic depths but they are not from the Air France plane's flight recorders, a French official said Tuesday. The official and French investigators denied a report on the website of the French newspaper Le Monde that French ships had picked up a signal from the black boxes. French military ships searching in the area where the plane crashed have "heard sounds" but "the black boxes have not been detected," said an aide to France's minister in charge of transport, Jean-Louis-Borloo. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to be publicly named. The two recorders, key to helping determine what happened to the Air France plane that plunged into the ocean May 31, will only continue to emit signals for another eight days or so. The Airbus A330 plane fell into the Atlantic after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people aboard were killed. The cause of the crash remains unclear. The French air accident investigation agency, BEA, said in a statement Tuesday that "no signals transmitted by the flight recorders' locator beacons have been validated up to now." The BEA said work is continuing "aimed at eliminating any doubts related to any sounds that may be heard, and any findings will be made public." Last week, BEA director Paul-Louis Arslanian sternly warned against any unconfirmed leaks in the investigation, saying they could mislead the public and unnecessarily worry or encourage the families. Le Monde said a mini research submarine, the Nautile, dived Monday to search for the boxes based on a "very weak signal" from the flight recorders picked up by the French ships. French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck said he could not confirm or deny the Le Monde report. French air accident investigators and officials with the French marine institute that operates the mini-sub, Ifremer, could not immediately be reached for comment. Brazilian and American officials said that as of Sunday evening no signals from the black boxes had been picked up. Searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries are methodically scanning the surface and depths of the Atlantic for signs of the plane. French-chartered ships are trolling a search area with a radius of 50 miles (80 kilometers), pulling U.S. Navy underwater listening devices attached to 19,700 feet (6,000 meters) of cable. A French submarine is also searching. The black boxes send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) away. Ten of 50 bodies recovered from the Air France flight that plunged into the Atlantic three weeks ago have been identified as Brazilians, medical examiners said. Dental records, fingerprints and DNA samples were used to identify the bodies. Investigators are reviewing all remains, debris and baggage at a base set up in Recife, Brazil. **************** Sounds detected under Atlantic are NOT doomed Air France jet's black box French officials said faint sounds detected under the Atlantic are not from the black boxes of the doomed Air France jet. There had been a report that the signals had been detected deep under the ocean earlier today by a mini submarine. But officials said that the boxes, which will give vital clues to the cause of the disaster which claimed 228 lives, had not been found. Locator beacons known as 'pingers' send an electronic signal every second for at least 30 days, and it can be heard up to 1.5 miles away. French ships involved in the search operation include a nuclear submarine with advanced sonar equipment and a research ship equipped with the mini subs. All are methodically scanning the surface and depths of the Atlantic for signs of the plane, over a 50 mile search radius. Medical examiners have since identified the first 11 of 50 bodies recovered from the flight that plunged into the Atlantic, officials said Sunday. Five bodies were identified as Brazilian men, five as Brazilian women and one as a 'foreigner of the male sex,' the Public Safety Department of the northeastern state of Pernambuco said in a statement. The department did not reveal the nationality of the non-Brazilian victim. Workers unload debris, belonging to crashed Air France flight AF447, from the Brazilian Navy's Constitution Frigate in the port of Recife, northeast of Brazil Dental records, fingerprints and DNA samples were used to identify the bodies, the statement said. Investigators are reviewing all remains, debris and baggage at a base set up in Recife, capital of Pernambuco. The families of the Brazilian victims and the embassy in Brazil representing the foreigner's home country have been notified, but the identities will not be publicized in keeping with the families' wishes, the statement said. Flight 447 fell into the ocean off the northeast coast of Brazil on the night of May 31, killing all passengers aboard. A total of 50 bodies have been retrieved from the ocean. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1194642/Sounds-detected-At lantic-NOT-doomed-Air-France-jets-black-box.html *************** A330 search has not traced recorder signals: investigators French investigators have clarified that no signals have yet been identified from the flight recorders on board the crashed Air France Airbus A330. Resources mobilised since the aircraft was lost on 1 June have so far failed to detect any trace of the recorders' location beacons, despite earlier claims in the French press that signals had been picked up. "No signals transmitted by the flight recorders' locator beacons have been validated up to now," says the French investigation agency Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses. "In the context of the sea searches that are under way, work is undertaken on a regular basis that is aimed at eliminating any doubts related to any sounds that may be heard." The recorders transmit a 10ms sonic pulse at a frequency of 37.5kHz, at intervals of about 1.1s, at 160dB. The devices are designed to continue transmitting for at least 30 days. Several vessels, including a nuclear submarine, have been using electronic deep-water scanning equipment in a bid to detect these signals. The ocean in the search area reaches a depth in excess of 4,600m (15,100ft). Brazil's defence ministry adds that, since the loss of the A330, search aircraft have clocked up 1,350hr in an operation covering 320,000km˛. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news ************** F-16 crashes at Utah Test and Training Range (Hill AFB) HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (ABC 4 News) - Air Force Officials confirm an F-16 has crashed over the Utah Test and Training Range. The crash happened at 10:25 p.m. Monday, according to Air Force officials. The F-16 was on a routine training mission and is assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB. The military says there is no further information about the condition of the pilot or the cause of the crash available at this time. Stay tuned to ABC 4 News and ABC4.com throughout your day for new details on this developing story out of Hill Air Force Base. http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story/F-16-crashes-at-Utah-Te st-and-Training-Range/Sj-YJsl8t06OGPB4W4gjcA.cspx **************** Republic offers to buy Frontier for $108.8 million MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Republic Airways Holdings said Monday it is offering to buy Frontier Airlines for $108.8 million and take it out of bankruptcy. Republic said it expects a court-supervised auction to determine if anyone will make a better offer. Indianapolis-based Republic supplied a $40 million debtor-in-possession loan to Frontier and held a $150 million unsecured claim, so it's not a surprise that it is on track to buy the airline. The plan calls for Republic to own all the equity in the newly reorganized Frontier. Republic operates a regional airline under its own name as well as Chautauqua Airlines and Shuttle America. Denver-based Frontier, known for its planes with animals painted on the tails, flies from Denver to points around the U.S. The plan would give unsecured creditors $28.8 million in cash. An additional $40 million of the sale proceeds would repay Republic's loan. Frontier said its current shareholders would get nothing. A bankruptcy court judge will have to approve Republic's offer. Republic said Frontier will seek court approval for the deal on July 13 and expects to finish the process and emerge from bankruptcy protection in the fall. Frontier Airlines ( FRNT - news - people ) Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2008. Republic said Frontier has posted operating profits for six months in a row. The reorganization plan filed Monday said Frontier's bankruptcy consultant began contacting prospective investors in January, and management met with potential investors over the next two months. But "the number of prospective investors dwindled rapidly," according to the plan, because of a combination of tight credit markets, the state of the airline industry, and the large loan and unsecured claim held by Republic. Republic submitted its proposal on May 6, according to the plan. "This agreement represents a major milestone in our ongoing efforts to position Frontier to emerge from bankruptcy as a competitive, sustainable airline," Frontier President and CEO Sean Menke said in a statement. Republic shares fell 15 cents, or 3.5 percent, to close at $4.10 on Monday before the announcement. ***************** EU may lift ban on four Indonesian airlines in July The European Commission could allow four Indonesian airlines to serve its members from July, partially lifting a blanket ban that it imposed in 2008 after a number of accidents involving the country's carriers. Senior officials from Indonesia's Directorate General of Air Communications (DGAC) will travel to Brussels next week for talks, and the ban on Airfast Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia, Mandala Airlines and Premiair should be lifted as they have fulfilled most of the EU's criteria, says a DGAC official. Garuda is Indonesia's national carrier, Mandala is a privately owned scheduled carrier, Airfast is a charter airline that does much of its work for western mining companies and Premiair is another charter airline that does corporate jet charters for European and US customers. The European Commission issued the ban last June after Indonesia failed an ICAO safety audit, and asked the country to implement some of the 600 recommendations that ICAO put forward. These included having an independent regulator, improving rules governing airlines, and increasing the standard of its safety inspectors. Indonesia has been taking steps to fulfil these criteria in order to get the EU ban lifted. Earlier this year, it suspended the air operator certificates (AOC) of five of the country's smaller airlines for failing a quarterly audit that is now conducts on airlines to ensure they fulfil safety standards. Source: Air Transport Intelligence news *************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC