Flight Safety Information June 1, 2010 - No. 108 In This Issue One year after Air France crash, families seek more investigations. Russia hands over plane crash recordings to Poland Canada: Passenger on Flight Identified... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One year after Air France crash, families seek more investigations (CNN) -- On the one-year anniversary marking the crash of Air France Flight 447, which killed 228 people when it fell into the Atlantic Ocean, victims' families will push for more thorough searches and more evidence, a family activist said Monday. The Airbus A330-200 crashed into the ocean as it headed from Brazil to France, in one of Air France's worst tragedies. A series of ceremonies will take place in Paris on Tuesday; a Mass was held Monday in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian businessman Martin Van Sluys, who has travelled the same Rio de Janeiro-Paris route numerous times to meet with French officials, said he will not give up his fight for a comprehensive report that can explain the causes behind the crash that cost the life of his sister. "I keep thinking to myself as I travel in these planes, this could be me one day, this could be my son. There are so many planes flying around that could have the same issues," said Van Sluys, who acts as spokesman for families of the crash victims. According to Brazil's air force, on May 31, 2009, the crew of AF Flight 447 made their last contact with Brazil's Atlantic Control Center (ACC) at 22:33 GMT, informing the center of the plane's position as it crossed the Atlantic. Soon after, Brazil's air control contacted Dakar's control center in North Africa and reported that AF 447 was entering an area on its route known for constant bands of severe turbulence, officials said. There was no further contact with the plane. In the months following the crash, investigators moved through three separate phases of the incident probe. In May, France' air investigation agency, BEA, announced the end of the third phase of its investigation without citing a specific cause of the crash. The plane's "black box" flight recorder remains missing in the ocean, according to Air France. "We have demanded a fourth phase," said Van Sluys. If financially-troubled Air France commits to a fourth search phase that would cost the company millions of euros in personnel time and resources, company officials may come close to meeting some of the victims' demands, Van Sluys said. "My objective is to see a final report with concrete evidence," said Van Sluys. "We know how costly the truth could be to some of the interest groups behind these investigations, from the manufacturers to the suppliers." "But what keeps me going if this had happened to me, my sister, who was a journalist and never accepted injustice, would have done this for me," he said. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Russia hands over plane crash recordings to Poland MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia agreed Monday to give Poland copies of cockpit recordings as part of an investigation into last month's plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski. During a meeting in Moscow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Polish Interior Minister Jerzy Miller signed an agreement allowing Poland to obtain the recordings. Under the deal, the original black box recordings will stay in Russia until the investigation is completed. "Handing over the copies does not mean the investigation is over," Ivanov said during the meeting. Kaczynski's plane -- a Russian-built TU-154 aircraft -- crashed outside Russia's Smolensk airport on April 10, killing the Polish leader and 95 others. Among those who died with Kaczynski were the heads of Poland's army and navy, its central bank governor, lawmakers and members of the presidential administration. The Polish leader was running late for a planned ceremony in nearby Katyn forest marking the 70th anniversary of the murder of some 22,000 Polish army officers and intellectuals there by the Soviet NKVD secret police. During the Moscow meeting, Ivanov and Miller praised cooperation between their countries as transparent and unprecedented. Handing over the copies will help Poland with its own investigation and analysis of the crash. Ivanov said that under an international agreement on plane crash investigations, not all data can be made public before the case is closed, including communication between the pilots and control towers. Miller told reporters after the meeting that the sides had agreed there would be no "surprises" when it comes to publication of information, adding however that it is up to Warsaw to decide which data should be made public. Miller said: "The Russian side will be informed in advance, but we do not need consent to make this public." Poles will elect a new president on June 20. Kaczynski's twin brother Jaroslaw is running for the post but is expected to take second place behind Bronislaw Komorowski, the candidate of Tusk's centrist ruling Civic Platform. Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Canada: Passenger on Flight Identified The Aeroméxico passenger who was arrested after his flight was diverted to Montreal has been identified as Abdirahman Ali Gaal, Canadian officials said Monday. The United States did not allow the flight, from Paris to Mexico City, to enter its airspace after it learned that Mr. Gaal was on board. He was arrested on "an outstanding warrant," but the United States Transportation Security Administration and the Canada Border Services Agency declined to say who issued the warrant or what charges Mr. Gaal faced. The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada declined to identify Mr. Gaal's nationality or say where he lived. An immigration hearing is set for Wednesday. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/world/americas/01briefs-plane.html [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103448314009&s=6053&e=001JqBMfjT_FmU0TrVCRBwnJLgB_xyAnKK_PyZZG1_B0GD3IAhrtBc2VwwrLe2igvkDFTjbEgA5izXT88WCoPIc0WEroFBw6Y4vOIb18bYUSQoTO0YyOkcGs6hfo4rxb6h5p-xboZb-OjvhBWjDAe_jRY5-L83lmJDXaUR3Gg4IDxNbzfLH3iAEn_LgGMDnRq_9] Back to Top ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC