AVIATION/ FLIGHT 447 BLACK BOXES ARE ENROUTE TO PARIS

                         (The black boxes being transferred to the Navy Patrol boat)

                         (An engine from Flight 447 being brought onboard the ship)

(The avionics bay from Flight 447 that was also recovered today)

The French BEA announced late this afternoon that the recovered black boxes from AIR FRANCE Flight 447 are now on their way to Paris. A French Navy Patrol boat reached the wreckage site today and the recorders were transferred from the recovery ship to the Patrol boat. The Patrol boat is now on its way to Cayenn and the BEA expects to receive the recorders in Paris this Thursday. The BEA also reported that an engine and the avionics bay of the Airbus A330, both of which contain onboard computers, have been recovered from the ocean floor. The computers have long term storage devices that records the operating status of several onboard systems. Investigators hope that all of these pieces, including the black boxes, will help them solve the mystery of why Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew onboard. The Airbus went down about 4 hours into the flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France, after encountering heavy thunderstorms.