Posted on 06/23/2002 12:50:38 PM PDT by Asmodeus
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Initial analysis of a black box from a China Airlines jet has yielded no clues in the crash last month that killed 225 people but has shown several unusual sounds, the chief investigator said Sunday.
Minutes before the Boeing 747-200 went down, the cockpit voice recorder picked up a noise that sounded like a human heart beat. But investigators have yet to identify the source of the noise, said Kay Yong, the chief investigator at Taiwan's Aviation Safety Council.
Shortly before the crash, the black box also recorded a noise that sounded like "ka ta, ka ta, ka ta," Yong said. The last noise was a sharp "thud" before the power went off, he said.
Several Boeing 747 pilots who listened to the tape said the sounds were not normal in the cockpit, Yong said.
Each sound lasts a fraction of a second. Investigators could not say if they were related to the crash, "but at this moment, we'd rather be more suspicious," Yong said.
A closer and more sophisticated analysis was needed to identify the noises, he said.
The second black box, the flight data recorder, was still being analyzed, and Yong would not comment on its contents.
Yong repeated on Sunday that the pilots' conversations did not indicate any problems.
He refused to speculate about why the plane crashed on May 25 about 20 minutes after taking off from Taiwan enroute for Hong Kong. But divers searching for the wreckage deep under the sea did not "find anything that did not belong to the airplane."
Search crews are still trying to recover large parts of the plane, which split into four pieces before plunging into the Taiwan Strait near the Penghu island chain off Taiwan's western coast. The wreckage might offer the best clues about why the plane crashed.
Some aviation experts have suggested that metal fatigue might have caused the 22-year-old plane to break up. Others have suggested that an explosion — perhaps in the fuel tank — was to blame. Security officials have said there were no signs of terrorism or a missile attack.
Rescue teams have so far recovered 160 bodies. Eight corpses — including that of co-pilot Hsieh Ya-hsiung — were found Saturday in wreckage about 200 feet under the sea.
The United Daily News quoted prosecutors as saying Hsieh's body was attached to the seat when it was found, indicating there had been no problem requiring him to get up immediately before the crash.
What is the Chinese word for "Oh s**t!"?
As you probably know, that caused the crash of JAL 123: the worst single-airplane disaster in history. It would be interesting to note similarities and differences.
-----
WARNING -- horrific:
JAL 123 CVR, actual recording, last 56 seconds.
Ticking?
Maybe a pressure bulkhead failure.Or a forward cargo-bay door as on UAL 811 ...
Woodpecker related Scaler Weapon?Geez ...I'll bet you can't explain the principles of what 'verbage' it is you scribbled above ...
Son, have you ever even HEARD the Russian 'woodpecker'?
Minutes before the Boeing 747-200 went down, the cockpit voice recorder picked up a noise that sounded like a human heart beat. ... the black box also recorded a noise that sounded like "ka ta, ka ta, ka ta,"Depending on the rate at which this sound was made - the aircraft could have been violently porpoising up and down or yawing back and forth (due to whatever reason) - just before total airframe failure and the recorder was cut off ...
Ticking?I think it would be safe to say that 'ticking' from some sort of timing device would been drowned-out by general wind, fan and aircraft noises ...
|
|
| Taiwan investigators said June 23, 2002 they heard a series of unidentified sounds in the cockpit recordings of a China Airlines jet that mysteriously broke up in mid-air and crashed into the sea last month, killing 225 people. A Taiwan Aviation investigator reveals one of the black boxes in Taipei on June 19 that was recovered from the Boeing 747-200 jet which broke up in mid-air and crashed into the sea on May 25. (Kenny Wu/Reuters) |
It had a line with HTML bold tags. That will do it every time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
