Air France Disaster - COMEX

[marke]

Firstly, I am sure that all our forum members thoughts and feelings go out to the friends and relatives of the passengers and crew of the Air France Airbus.

With all the news articles on this very sad subject, stating that the plane went down in 12000 ft of water, I wondered whether President Sarkozy has enlisted the help of COMEX and their specialist teams of divers and equipment. Maybe he has already contacted Henri Delauze....

It would interesting to know, if Comex did get involved in the recovery a and location of the black boxes would all the divers be wearing deep sea sea dwellers.

[Imtiaz]

The untimely loss of any life is sad, the loss of so many is sadder and indeed are thoughts and prayers are with the families.

I think the Comex team still use the Sea Dweller not the Deep Sea.

[marke]

I agree with you Imtiaz, but as comex helped so much with the development of the deep sea and some of the specialised testing equipment yu never know and as the current sea dweller is now discontinued, what will Henri and his comex team wear...

[Colnago]

I just hope they find the boxes, no matter what they are wearing....I worked with Arthur Coakley in 2006, he was one of the Brits who was on the flight.....nice guy....what a terrible way to go....

[Subfiend]

Originally Posted by marke

Firstly, I am sure that all our forum members thoughts and feelings go out to the friends and relatives of the passengers and crew of the Air France Airbus.

With all the news articles on this very sad subject, stating that the plane went down in 12000 ft of water, I wondered whether President Sarkozy has enlisted the help of COMEX and their specialist teams of divers and equipment. Maybe he has already contacted Henri Delauze....

It would interesting to know, if Comex did get involved in the recovery a and location of the black boxes would all the divers be wearing deep sea sea dwellers.

No and no.

The French have enlisted the aid of IFREMER:

http://wwz.ifremer.fr/institut_en/ac...es/airbus_a330

This job is too deep for divers.

[Subfiend]

Here is the translated text:

Ifremer was seized by Bernard Kouchner, Minister of State, Minister for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Planning, to strengthen the resources mobilized in search of Airbus A330 disappeared Monday 1st June in the Atlantic Ocean. All operations are coordinated by the Military Staff of the armed forces.

The first phase of operations carried out by Ifremer, is to locate the black boxes of the Airbus A330. These emit during 30 days at a frequency of 37.5 kHz with a range of 1500 m. According to initial estimates, it appears that the black boxes would rest by more than 3000 meters, they would be undetectable from the surface.

Ifremer and Genavir (manager vessels Ifremer) own and operate a monitoring system submersible that could detect the signals emitted by the black boxes of the A330. The system can not be deployed until a vessel equipped with an electrical cable carrying 6000 meters and a system for receiving appropriate. The oceanographic vessel Pourquoi pas? Meets these two conditions.

Equipped with the submarine Nautilus and inhabited remote robot Victor 6000, why not? Was at the Azores to start a scientific Bathyluck (campaign INSU / CNRS).
In coordination with other resources deployed in the area, the ship sailed yesterday to reach the area by about ten days.

The second phase will involve the intervention of the submarine Nautilus in recovering the black boxes. Indeed, for this type of operation, the Nautilus, capable of up to 6000 meters, is the most appropriate gear, especially since it allows a human side and is equipped with a sonar Proximity can detect signals up to 200 meters on the sides.

The Nautile
The Victor 6000
Download the form on the Pourquoi pas? (Pdf format)

[Lion]

When any plane goes down it's a tragic loss to all the families who had loved ones on board. My sympathies go out to all the families involved for their losses!!!

[AJF]

Originally Posted by marke

Firstly, I am sure that all our forum members thoughts and feelings go out to the friends and relatives of the passengers and crew of the Air France Airbus.

With all the news articles on this very sad subject, stating that the plane went down in 12000 ft of water, I wondered whether President Sarkozy has enlisted the help of COMEX and their specialist teams of divers and equipment. Maybe he has already contacted Henri Delauze....

It would interesting to know, if Comex did get involved in the recovery a and location of the black boxes would all the divers be wearing deep sea sea dwellers.

The Deepest North Sea Saturation Divers go down is around 190 m (623 ft). The safety margins at that depth are very small.

If you are ever in the City of London, Tower 42 (formally NatWest Tower) is 180 metres (600 ft). If you stand below it and look up, it gives you some perspective how deep that would be.

That is way those guys get paid tax free £1,500 ($2,400) plus a day.

AJF

[Subfiend]

From CNN today:

"The part of the ocean where the debris and bodies have been found ranges between 6,000 and 8,000 meters (about 19,700 to 26,250 feet) deep. The search area covers 124,300 square kilometers (77,220 square miles), an area nearly as big as the country of Romania."

This is why there will not be any divers on this project.

[AJF]

Originally Posted by Subfiend

From CNN today:

"The part of the ocean where the debris and bodies have been found ranges between 6,000 and 8,000 meters (about 19,700 to 26,250 feet) deep. The search area covers 124,300 square kilometers (77,220 square miles), an area nearly as big as the country of Romania."

This is why there will not be any divers on this project.

I read in the Telegraph that they think the depth is up to 12,000 ft.

If CNN is right and it is 20,000 ft plus then no technology exists to raise it from that depth.

AJF

[RolexPete32]

I have to ask everyone this. Does anyone here think that pro Divers even use Rolex in this day and age of computers and underwater gadgets? It is a thought I have no idea?

[wantonebad]

Originally Posted by Blendhpi

I have to ask everyone this. Does anyone here think that pro Divers even use Rolex in this day and age of computers and underwater gadgets? It is a thought I have no idea?

Yeah its a valid question, many divers that i know use both, the veteran divers seem to feel better having a back-up mechanical piece incase their computer fails but realistically that doesn't happen so who knows why they really wear their divers-tool watches.

I would guess that many prefer to have a watch they can do anything with and is reliable

[sddjd]

Originally Posted by AJF

If CNN is right

That probably sums it up right there... I've been constantly surprised that we haven't yet been bombarded with CNN images of 767's, 747's, etc, with statements such as "the a330, like the one behind me, went down..."

Re: divers, watches, and computers: those I know (mil & rec) typically wear a watch. Habit, plus the redundancy for computers that never break down.

[Micha]

To use this terrible disaster as a thread to discuss Rolex watches is absolutely tasteless IMHO, so please let's shut this down!!!

[Lion]

Inquiring minds want to know!!!
If you think this thread is tasteless, then please do not read it.....

[redshirt1957]

The truth is that the French, and not the airline, has requested the help of the USA/military at no cost. They are at work doing what they have been trained to do.

[Subfiend]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

The truth is that the French, and not the airline, has requested the help of the USA/military at no cost. They are at work doing what they have been trained to do.

The French have almost the same ROV technology as the US, and the French submersible Nautile is more capable than its US counterpart. However, the US Navy has an edge in underwater listening devices, and a few private contractors in the US have a handful of "max ocean" ROVs. It will take time and money to get these assets on site.

[Flaxmoore]

Originally Posted by wantonebad

Yeah its a valid question, many divers that i know use both, the veteran divers seem to feel better having a back-up mechanical piece incase their computer fails but realistically that doesn't happen so who knows why they really wear their divers-tool watches.

I would guess that many prefer to have a watch they can do anything with and is reliable

In the survival world, the saying is always that two is one, and one is none. Having 2 devices means if one fails, you still may survive. Having only one gives no such margin for error.