http://online.wsj.com/articles/conv...418497?mod=WSJ_hppMIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsSecond
PARIS—French investigators haven't been able to analyze cockpit conversations from the black boxes recovered from the Air Algérie jetliner that crashed in Mali last month, frustrating efforts to establish the cause of the accident.
Investigators have recovered the plane's two black boxes and managed to extract a recording of the conversations in the cockpit, but the sounds are "unintelligible," said Rémi Jouty, director of the French agency that investigates airplane crashes. Mr. Jouty said the reason was probably a malfunction of the recorder.
The team of investigators into the crash—comprising officials from Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and the U.S.—have been able to establish the airplane's trajectory before the crash thanks to data recorded by the other black box.
The plane first changed course when approaching an area of turbulence over eastern Mali in the early hours of July 24, and then apparently nose-dived and crashed, Mr. Jouty said at a news conference held in Paris with an official from Mali.
He said the investigation suggests the plane didn't explode in the air, but disintegrated when hitting the ground. The investigators will release a preliminary report in mid-September on the disaster, which cost the lives of 118 passengers.
PARIS—French investigators haven't been able to analyze cockpit conversations from the black boxes recovered from the Air Algérie jetliner that crashed in Mali last month, frustrating efforts to establish the cause of the accident.
Investigators have recovered the plane's two black boxes and managed to extract a recording of the conversations in the cockpit, but the sounds are "unintelligible," said Rémi Jouty, director of the French agency that investigates airplane crashes. Mr. Jouty said the reason was probably a malfunction of the recorder.
The team of investigators into the crash—comprising officials from Spain, Algeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and the U.S.—have been able to establish the airplane's trajectory before the crash thanks to data recorded by the other black box.
The plane first changed course when approaching an area of turbulence over eastern Mali in the early hours of July 24, and then apparently nose-dived and crashed, Mr. Jouty said at a news conference held in Paris with an official from Mali.
He said the investigation suggests the plane didn't explode in the air, but disintegrated when hitting the ground. The investigators will release a preliminary report in mid-September on the disaster, which cost the lives of 118 passengers.
