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news A search team led by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) located the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 some 3,900 meters, or nearly 2.5 miles, below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil’s northeastern coast. Three of Hydroid’s REMUS 6000 AUVs aided in the search for and discovery of wreckage from the downed Air France flight, nearly two years after the plane was lost. That success came just one week into the latest mission “attests to the efficiency of the vehicles and the competence of this team,” said WHOI Senior Engineer Mike Purcell. The Airbus A330-200, traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, crashed on June 1, 2009, after encountering severe thunderstorms. It was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. The search team, led by WHOI – and under the direction of the BEA, Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses – employed two REMUS 6000 vehicles owned by the Waitt Institute for Discovery and another owned by Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences (IFM-GEOMAR). On April 3, 2011, through the use of the Hydroid REMUS 6000 vehi- cles equipped with EdgeTech dual frequency side scan sonar and 4 mega pixel digital cameras, searchers dis- covered and large pieces of debris, including parts of the aircraft’s wings, engine, landing gear and fuselage. This was the fourth search mission since the 2009 crash. The REMUS 6000 AUV is the deepest member of Hydroid’s grow- ing family of AUVs. It was designed under a cooperative program involving the Naval Oceanographic Office (NAVO- CEANO), the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and WHOI in sup- port of deep-water autonomous oper- ations. The vehicle boasts the same proven software and electronic subsystems found in Hydroid’s highly successful REMUS 100 AUV and is capable of carrying a payload to great depths in order to measure ocean water charac- teristics and map the seabed. Air France Wreckage Found 8 MTR May 2011 Images from the wreckage of Air France Flight 447 Below: Side scan sonar image of the site; Right, from the top: the engine; a wing; and landing gear. (Images cour tesy of the BEA)
