SWITZERLAND: Weather data programme could not have averted Air France's plane crash

Record ID: 382687

  • Title: SWITZERLAND: Weather data programme could not have averted Air France's plane crash
  • Date: 4th June 2009
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JUNE 3, 2009) (REUTERS) ZOOM IN ON THE EXTERIOR OF THE WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION (WMO) HEADQUARTERS, WITH FRENCH ALPS IN BACKGROUND EXTERIOR OF THE WMO BUILDING WITH SIGNPOST DR. GEOFF LOVE, DIRECTOR OF WMO'S AERONAUTICAL METEOROLOGY PROGRAMME ARRIVING AT THE PRESS BRIEFING JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. GEOFF LOVE, DIRECTOR OF WMO'S AERONAUTICAL METEOROLOGY PROGRAMME, SAYING: "It's a disaster and we all want to understand how the disaster happened, and had AMDAR been on board of that aircraft, we may have possibly got some data which would have told us about the conditions it was encountering before the transmission stopped, and that's all we would have got out of AMDAR, we would have had some data which would have stopped at some point and it might or might not have told us something useful in the investigation. And I guess, it's an incredibly sad event and all that would have done is help us shed some light on it, had it been on board." MAP SHOWING WHERE DEBRIS WERE FOUND, COMPARED TO THE FLIGHT'S PLANNED ROUTE. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DR. GEOFF LOVE, DIRECTOR OF WMO'S AERONAUTICAL METEOROLOGY PROGRAMME, SAYING: "We don't know whether it's weather related, aircraft related or whatever and that's the job of the investigators to figure out exactly what happened. And for us to speculate is just impossible." METEORLOGICAL MAP SHOWING WEATHER WITH STORM ACTIVITY (RED HIGHLIGHTS) IN THE REGION OF THE CRASH. EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WITH UNITED NATIONS FLAG ON ROOF
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA5N45S8V1JI59LSYK54BX7XT8Y
  • Story Text: The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says that their Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay Programme (AMDAR) could not have prevented Air France's 447 flight from crashing.
    The World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) program Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay Programme (AMDAR), under which more than 5,000 aircraft collect data weather conditions during flights, would not have prevented Air France's 447 aircraft from crashing, a WMO official said on Wednesday (June 3).
    According to the Director of WMO's aeronautical meteorology programme, Dr. Geoff Love, data provided by the programme would have at best provided information on the weather conditions the flight was encountering before its signal was cut.
    "It's a disaster and we all want to understand how the disaster happened, and had AMDAR been on board of that aircraft, we may have possibly got some data which would have told us about the conditions it was encountering before the transmission stopped, and that's all we would have got out of AMDAR, we would have had some data which would have stopped at some point and it might or might not have told us something useful in the investigation. And I guess, it's an incredibly sad event and all that would have done is help us shed some light on it, had it been on board", Geoff Love said.
    According to Dr. Love, 330 Airbuses are generally not equipped with the WMO's devices, which transmit data to WMO members meteorological Institutes on weather conditions encountered during their flights.
    More than 5,000 aircraft collect data under WMO's Aircraft Meteorological Data Relay Programme (AMDAR).
    The data supports weather forecasting, climate predictions, and early warning systems ahead of natural disasters.
    However, two Lufthansa jets believed to have been in the same area half an hour before the missing Air France flight could provide clues for the investigation.
    "We don't know whether it's weather related, aircraft related or whatever and that's the job of the investigators to figure out exactly what happened. And for us to speculate is just impossible", Dr Love said.
    According to the WMO, the two aircraft recorded data on prevailing temperatures and winds, but they were not equipped to automatically transmit information on turbulence.
    The two aircraft were believed to be going from South America to Europe, on Sunday night, in the same direction as the Air France flight from Rio to Paris.
    Brazilian search planes spotted debris in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday that could be the wreckage of Air France flight 447carrying 228 people that disappeared in a storm on Sunday night.
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