Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Air Algerie cockpit voice recorder damaged on impact

Heliopolis MD-83 (53190/2148) SU-ZCA was the Swiftair aircraft operated for Air Algerie as AH5017 which crashed on July 24, 2014.

It is seen at Long Beach Airport (LGB/KLGB) in August 1996 as it prepares to depart on a pre-delivery test flight as "DACO2148." The aircraft was delivered on August 26, 1996.

The aircraft also served with Avianca Columbia as HK-4137X and N190AN, and Austral Lineas Aereas as LV-BHN.
(Photo by Michael Carter)

French air accident investigators have read the flight data recorder (FDR) of the Boeing MD-83 that crashed in Mali while operating for Air Algerie, but work is continuing on the cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which was damaged on impact.

Flight AH5017 was operating from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers on July 24 when it crashed in the Gossi region of northeastern Mali, near the border of Burkina Faso. The wreckage was found in a disintegrated state and there were no survivors among the 112 passengers and six crew on board.

While the Republic of Mali is leading the investigation, France’s Bureau d'EnquĂȘtes et d'Analyses (BEA) has been brought in to provide technical assistance. BEA said two of its investigators traveled to the scene July 25, where the CVR and FDR were both recovered. These were transported to France and officially handed to the director of the BEA on Monday.

“Work on opening them began immediately. BEA investigators were quickly able to read out the data from the FDR. Work on decoding and analyzing the data in detail will now start, with members of the Malian Commission of Inquiry. The CVR was damaged in the impact. Work is continuing on this recorder in order to extract data from it,” BEA said.

It added that next steps and initial findings would be communicated by the Malian authorities.

While the cause of the crash remains unknown, weather is being considered. French officials said they believe the aircraft broke up only upon impact with the ground, rather than in mid-air.

The aircraft was an MD-83, chartered by Air Algerie from Spanish company Swiftair (53190/2148), EC-LTV). It was manufactured August 1996 and was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D-219 engines. Swiftair said it was equipped with Cat III, BRNAV, FMS/GPS, TCAS II and RVSM.

(Victoria Moores - ATWOnline News)

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