Even if the searchers knew the exact spot where the aircraft hit the water, it would not necessarily make the search easy. Quite apart from the fact that sections of wreckage could have partially submerged and drifted for hundreds of miles on the currents, the ocean floor in that region very undulating, with large peaks and troughs, which means a search vessel could be very close to some wreckage and still unable to pick up a direct line sonar return if it was blocked by an underwater peak.The water is incredibly deep there too, and there will no doubt be significant temperature gradients and salinity variations, which means sonar signals could potentially be completely incapable of penetrating such a phenomenon, rendering the wreckage effectively beyond detection. Thus, the mere fact that no large sections of the aircraft have been found, does not necessarily indicate that the aircraft broke up in mid air. So it also means that the wreckage may never be found, in spite of the desire and efforts to do so.Al

The water is incredibly deep there too...

Its about 22,900 ft deep. That's over 4 miles. It's quite possible that the black-boxes and wreckage can never ve found.

Hello,The recent BBC documentary available as streaming here:http://www.zshare.net/videoplayer/player.p...67202621d6953efThe NOVA editions are also working in the making of one.http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/insidenova/20...e-year-out.htmlRegards.Gus.

The search was stopped because looking for a 3'x.5' box in the abyss of the ocean --with no beacon transmitting-- is futile. Or maybe you know that already and I misunderstood your post? Anyway, someone stated that already above...

They could have used a submarine to find the box, but I don't think those will reach the abyss.

Hi,

The search was stopped because looking for a 3'x.5' box in the abyss of the ocean --with no beacon transmitting-- is futile

It's not always futile .....http://strumpfer.com/Papers/HelderbergSearch.htmRegards.Gus.

After knowing that the boxes would have been ping for just a month they (BEA) should have requested assistance from other Navy's submarine fleets but not to get them but to find out within a mile or two where they were. Once the position was known with a little certainty we could have had all the time in the world to get them safely. All politics aside of course.Cheers,MABPS: The BBC show was soft on everyone, I think.

One more time. Let's cross our fingers since we can't be doing this forever.http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/11/25/350225/fourth-search-for-missing-af447-to-launch-in-early-2011.htmlCheers,MABPS: http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/12/22/351240/easa-warns-a330-crews-check-speeds-if-autopilot-disengages.html

Thanks for the reminder of this terrible accident. Even thinking of the circumstances gives me nightmares, and I am not a frequent flyer, although I've flown in the airbus a few times.<<...since we can't be doing this forever>>If this takes forever, then so be it. This concerns everyone who boards any passenger aircraft, not just an airbus. This investigation should be international, and every country that has an airline should participate if necessary. There is surely enough expertise to discover the truth behind this incident.RegardsBill

HelloWith aircraft flying over the worlds oceans ,I am surprised the tech boffins have not come up with something in the event of an aircraft crashing into the sea in areas were the ocean can be deeper than Everest is high.Some sort of auto inflating system(like an air bag ) that might be able to bring the Bbox back to the surface (I know this involves it being thrown clear but something along those lines.)Perhaps the box could be repositioned in aircraft that are making long flights over vast oceans that means it improve 's its chances be thrown clear in the event of a crash.With electronics and technology advancing at the rate it does today, is there no way that an aircraft's systems (including unfortunately what occurs during accidents) can be monitored using on-board computers ,with the the information being relayed to satellites and from there to some sort of station on the ground? thus eliminating the traditional Bbox.I know nothing about all this tech stuff(I am a gardener) ,but just some thoughts.Andy

HelloWith aircraft flying over the worlds oceans ,I am surprised the tech boffins have not come up with something in the event of an aircraft crashing into the sea in areas were the ocean can be deeper than Everest is high.Some sort of auto inflating system(like an air bag ) that might be able to bring the Bbox back to the surface (I know this involves it being thrown clear but something along those lines.)Perhaps the box could be repositioned in aircraft that are making long flights over vast oceans that means it improve 's its chances be thrown clear in the event of a crash.With electronics and technology advancing at the rate it does today, is there no way that an aircraft's systems (including unfortunately what occurs during accidents) can be monitored using on-board computers ,with the the information being relayed to satellites and from there to some sort of station on the ground? thus eliminating the traditional Bbox.I know nothing about all this tech stuff(I am a gardener) ,but just some thoughts.Andy

Hey Andy,Data from the ACARS system was sent in flight, they know what systems failed however a big chunk of info is still missing eg voice recorders and the full set of data from the FDR.There have been many ideas suggested regarding a live feed of FDR data & improvements to black boxes however the cost is too large to make it viable on existing fleets.

<<...since we can't be doing this forever>><<If this takes forever, then so be it.>>Not really. Everything in this world is tainted with Economics. If this one doesn't work the next one will be under pure lady luck and who knows how many years in the future that might take. Probably useless by then. I remember a fatal accident up in the Andes in the late 40's early 50's. They couldn't find anything then. Not even traces. The glacier resurfaced the wreckage some 45 years later. Not too many dwellers by then. << This concerns everyone who boards any passenger aircraft, not just an airbus. This investigation should be international, and every country that has an airline should participate if necessary. There is surely enough expertise to discover the truth behind this incident.>>I agree and makes me angry when I think the first month was lost with the pinging having excellent capable subs in another Navy so near by. I blame the Brazilians for not calling them. Just call everybody since we only had a month or even less. Time was of the Essence. Oh well, let's hope again.Cheers,MAB

Another problem for modern crews is the large number of computer error messages that issue when something goes wrong. We all know too from years of experience with pc's that a computer error message rarely points to the true problem.The other day my FS wouldn't load, coming up with a string of errors saying files were missing and the sim had to be reinstalled. What had "actually" was that when I updated my FSUIPC I added the extension .old to the wrong file. Had I not remembered that, I would have had to have done a lot of work for nothing!!Remember the Quantas incident out of Singapore? They spent 2 hours accepting/rejecting error messages instead of just getting the a/c back down on terra firma as in the old days.Also these numerous error messages are quite a distraction for crews when they are supposed to be dealing with emergencies potential or real. The other night an Alitalia Airbus over the Atlantic lost it's entire glass cockpit for 15 minutes. Fortunately they had a supernumary on board which allowed the captain to concentrate on flying the a/c whilst the others searched the flight manuel by torchlight!!vololiberista

That might have been probably what ultimately brought the plane down. The crew didn't/couldn't kept the plane flying. But we still need to know how the pilots got themselves into that final stage.Cheers,MAB

The Darlow Smithson Production for Nova ( in assoc. with BBC) was very informative. The investigators on the show reveleda plausible cause for the ultimate demise of flight 447. although they admit no definitive answer can be given without the boxes.It’s available to watch on Netflix, If you do not have an account they offer a free 30 day trail.I can not verify it's availability in all countries.

Thanks airboatr,But coming very very soon:http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/crash-flight-447.htmlCheck local listing as they say.Cheers,MAB