Air France Flight 447 Families Concerned About Efforts to Recover Bodies

Spiegel Online ^ | 5/5/2011 | Annette Langer and Simone Utler

[Western Phil]

Victims' families are closer to the truth this week: Voice and data recorders from flight AF447 have been pulled from the ocean floor, and investigators hope to unlock their contents. But experts and family members remain at odds over whether newly discovered bodies should be brought to the surface.

-snip-

The remains of 50 passengers were recovered and identified on the surface of the water in the days after the flight disappeared in a storm on June 1, 2009. But underwater robots recently discovered the wreck and photographed a number of bodies still fastened in their seatbelts on the Atlantic Ocean floor. The task of recovering these bodies is a difficult and delicate endeavour now dividing family members.

-snip-

An unmanned submarine from the Alucia first identified the submerged airliner on April 3 in a murky part of the Sargasso Sea, northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands. Another underwater robot plucked the voice and data recorders from the wreck. They were hauled aboard a French recovery ship called the Ile de Sein.

-snip-

[Western Phil]

An update.

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[Bigg Red]

Maybe I am just not understanding what is going on, but I am thinking that they are remains and not bodies after 2 years. Would there be anything left besides bones?

[MasterGunner01]

Now that the location of AF447 is known, why not have a memorial service for them and let the remains stay where they are? There is nothing to be gained from mounting (or even considering) a recovery operation . . . no matter how well-intentioned.

[Polybius]

Maybe I am just not understanding what is going on, but I am thinking that they are remains and not bodies after 2 years. Would there be anything left besides bones?

Depending on how deep and cold the water is, how much oxygen there is and what feeding organisms can live that deep, bodies can turn into soap (saponification).

Grave wax and soap people: Germany’s not so rotten corpses

Lady of the Lake ..... And then on July 6, 1940, almost three years after Hallie disappeared, two fishermen spotted the body of the woman --The Lady of the Lake -- floating on the surface of Lake Crescent. .... The dead woman's flesh had turned to something like Ivory Soap, McNutt said later, describing a condition known as "saponification." The soap-like condition resulted from minerals in the lake interacting with the fats in the woman's body. The lake's near-freezing temperatures had virtually refrigerated the corpse for years.

[Mr. Silverback]

When the water is cold and oxygen content is low, bodies can be very well preserved. There's a body in the engine room of SS Kamloops in the Isle Royal area of Lake Superior that local divers call "Grandpa" or "Whitey." The ship sank in 1927, but as of the mid-90s the guy still had his head (with a recognizable face) and hands (with a visible wedding ring) attached. The folks on board the Air France jet probably look just the same as when they got there.

[Western Phil]

I think the water at that depth, even in the tropics, is quite cold and has very little oxygen.

If you recall the Gulf oil leak, the natural gas escaping with the oil turned to slush during the first attempts to capture the mix. There is other physics involved, but the cold temperature of the water was an important factor.

[Bigg Red]

I don’t know. If my loved one was among those lost in the flight, I would probably want the remains to be brought home. But, if I were told that recovery was just too difficult, I would probably reconcile myself to the fact.

[Bigg Red]

OK, thanks.

[Bigg Red]

OK, thanks.

[Bigg Red]

OK, thanks.

[Publius6961]

Now that the location of AF447 is known, why not have a memorial service for them and let the remains stay where they are? There is nothing to be gained from mounting (or even considering) a recovery operation . . . no matter how well-intentioned.

Although I agree with you, I consider it merciful to allow each family to make that decision for themselves, or even to express an opinion.

If you haven't experienced a family death in an accident, you have no idea. It's not a cold, rational process.

[TheOldLady]

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[MasterGunner01]

I was faced with such a decision when my mother died. I wanted something other than the “traditional” funeral service. I wanted to celebrate her life and not her death.

I had her remains cremated and then had a memorial service for her for family and friends who knew her. That was far more satisfying to all present than the usual funeral. All those present were relatives and friends whose lives her presence had enriched. Celebrate and remember her in life; do not celebrate death because it is just the transition from the temporal to spiritual realm.