MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Airbus calls for prudence on the cause of Flight 447 accident

Tom Enders, Airbus CEO is waiting for the black boxes

European manufacturer of Airbus aircrafts cautioned against speculations about the causes of the Flight 447 accident this month in the Atlantic Ocean and strongly defended the safety record of the A330.

Precisely an Air France A330 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean flying from Rio do Janeiro to Paris on June first with the loss of 228 people on board, the worst air accident in the last eight years.

“It can be rightly said that the aviation community remains under certain commotion”, said Airbus CEO Tom Enders during a meeting with journalists in Paris at the Le Bourget air show which officially opens today.

“And of course this is no comfort for the families, but if we look at flight statistics over the last 30 years…they clearly indicate that the A330 is one of the safest aircrafts that has ever operated”.

Louis Gallois another top executive from Airbus also called on the media for calm as to the causes of the Flight 447 accident.

“Please, be patient”, he said.

“An investigation of this kind takes time and we should not be launching hypothesis or speculations because we are dealing with the pain of families, colleagues and friends. They can’t know if what they read in the newspapers is correct or not”.

Enders said that Airbus personnel are on board the rescue vessels searching for bodies and remains of the aircraft, and are willing, if necessary to offer all their experience and knowledge regarding the plane.

“We’re supporting Air France, and we are supporting the officials in charge of the investigation to find out what really happened up there…and we are waiting for the black boxes, hopefully they will be soon located so we know what happened”, said Enders.

“Any speculation attempts against the job of the authorities”, he added.

There has been growing speculation that the pressure or speed sensors could have failed, thus making speed readings unreliable.

Airbus has said there are no plans to ground all A330 and A340 to make the speed sensors changed mandatory before returning to the air.

Meantime the search for bodies and remnants of Flight 447 enters its third and possibly final week Monday with the focus now on locating the “black box” recorders that could hold the key to the accident.

As of Saturday night, the Brazilian and French navies had recovered 49 bodies as well as pieces of the aircraft, including a large fragment of its tail.

Most of the bodies have been transported to Recife, on Brazil's north-eastern coast, where a team of doctors is examining them to establish their identities.