03.05.2011
Voice recorder of 2009 Air France flight found
The machine that records cockpit conversations was located on Monday and raised from the ocean depths on Tuesday, a statement by the agency said.
The plane's flight data recorder was recovered on Sunday, meaning both pieces critical in helping to determine the cause of the crash have now been found. The memory unit was found by a submarine probing 3,900 meters (12,800 feet) below the ocean's surface.
The condition of the instruments was not immediately clear.
Like the memory unit, the cockpit voice recorder was lifted onto the Ile de Sein, a ship helping to conduct the probe, the statement from the BEA agency said.
Investigators hope the discoveries will allow them to determine what caused the June 1, 2009, crash of Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris. The aircraft slammed into the Atlantic northeast of Brazil after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm.
Experts had said that without the voice and data recorders there would be almost no chance of determining what caused the worst disaster in Air France's history.
Automatic messages sent by the Airbus 330's computers showed the aircraft was receiving false air speed readings from sensors known as pitot tubes. Investigators have said the crash, in a remote and deep area of the Atlantic, was likely caused by a series of problems, and not just sensor error.
The flight recorders were recovered during a fourth search for bodies and aircraft debris. Investigators targeted an area of about 3,900 square miles (10,000 square kilometers), several hundred miles off Brazil's northeastern coast.
Searchers were using up to three autonomous underwater search vehicles, each of which can stay underwater for up to 20 hours while using sonar to scan a mountainous area.
In early April, French officials said the operation had succeeded in finding most of the Airbus jet, including its motors. Bodies of some of the victims were also discovered.
Determining the cause of the crash took on new importance in March, when a French judge filed preliminary manslaughter charges against Air France and planemaker Airbus.
Air France and Airbus are financing the estimated $12.5 million cost of the latest search effort, but the French government is to pay for the recovery of anything that is found. About $28 million has already been spent on the three previous searches for the jet's wreckage.
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No public tickets for Mich St-UNC carrier game
If you're Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, no problem. If you're among the approximately 4,000 military personnel selected, come on board. If you're real tight with either school, you might have a fighting chance.
Otherwise, a seat in front of a TV is going to be the only way to see the first NCAA hoops game to be played on a flat top.
Organizer Mike Whalen of Morale Entertainment Foundation said tickets won't be sold to the public. They'll be free to those lucky enough to be chosen, and scalpers will be out of luck. Whalen said ticket holders' names will be printed on the front, and ID must match.
"It makes sure that the right people are going to the game and that there's no aftermarket," Whalen said Monday. "It's an added measure of security. Again, this is a United States warship. We've got to make sure we know who's coming onboard the ship."
Jordan and Johnson are expected to be the honorary captains.
For obvious reasons, organizers won't know until much closer to the Nov. 11 game which aircraft carrier will serve as host. It probably will be the USS Ronald Reagan or the USS Carl Vinson, said Whalen, who's spent time in San Diego meeting with Navy officials.
A court and stadium seating for about 7,000 fans will be set up on the flight deck. In case of rain, the game will be moved below to the hangar deck, with bleacher seating for the fans.
Each school will get 750 tickets, 400 will go to coaches participating in a clinic and 1,000 will go to the Morale Entertainment Foundation and its partners: the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Wounded Warrior Project and the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Although the teams' travel expenses will be paid by organizers, each school is giving up a home date — and the money it would have made. Whalen said talks with ESPN to broadcast the game should be finalized this week. Tipoff will be shortly after 4 p.m. San Diego time.
Whalen said organizers also plan a postgame concert on the carrier.
San Diego was the logical port.
"You can't play basketball in November in Norfolk or Bremerton, Wash.," Whalen said.
The game was the idea of Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis. Al Kidd and the San Diego Sports Commission approached Morale Entertainment Foundation about helping to stage it.
Even as officials are finalizing plans for this year's game, they're looking to make it a multiyear deal.
Michigan State has an option to play in the 2012 game, possibly against Duke, Whalen said. Other teams that could play in future games include Texas, Ohio State, Florida, Navy, San Diego State and Notre Dame.
There's a potential for a women's game in 2012 or '13, likely between Ohio State and Notre Dame.
"Veterans Day is sort of a somber holiday. We look to change that," said Whalen, who served in the Marine Corps. "It should be more than a day off. It's going to be a day to look forward to because we're going to have a good time."
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Sosbuzz Offers Solution to the Economic Meltdown
A majority of small businesses that currently advertise online use Google’s pay-per-click method of advertising where they are forced to pay for each click their ad receives. Paying just a dollar a click can cost a business tens of thousands of dollars per month, which can make it extremely difficult to compete and nearly impossible to offer significant deals to consumers, as businesses need to keep up their profit margins.
Enter , the marketplace search engine that has filed patents on what it calls the “pay-after-confirmed-sale” 100% , where Sosbuzz delivers sales to businesses, even off-line business, and asks the businesses to confirm sales they’ve received from Sosbuzz members. When the business confirms, they will be charged a small fee based on the purchase price of the product or service reported by the purchaser. Upon charging the business a small fee, which hovers around 5%, Sosbuzz will then donate 25% of its proceeds to the cause selected by the Sosbuzz member that reported the purchase.
“Times are tough. Business are hurting, charities are hurting,” says Raffi Sosikian, founder of Sosbuzz, who is a techie with an MBA and a former banker. “Typical online advertising is eating away up to 35% of merchant profits. According to a survey from Merrill Lynch and Indiana University, the wealthiest Americans donated 35% less to charity in 2010 than they did in 2008. The Sosbuzz model addresses both of these issues. We trust people to do what is right, and in every case we’ve observed, people have done exactly the right thing. We trust people to report their purchases to us. We trust businesses will confirm those purchases and pay us the small fee we charge for getting them clients. We then donate 25% of our proceeds to the cause that the Sosbuzz member who reported their purchase to us had selected. The consumer saves money, the business gets risk free advertising and saves money, and the . Everyone wins. Helping the small business sector is the key to a sustainable recovery, and I feel Sosbuzz is doing its part. It’s time for banks to do their part.”
For more information on Sosbuzz, please visit
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Melissa Sternbergpress@sosbuzz.com818-246-8211Email Information
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