AF 447 located: statement by Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO AIR FRANCE – KLM

Air France has been informed by the BEA, the French Air Accident Investigation Bureau, that the Airbus A330 that crash-landed into the sea en route between Rio and Paris-Charles de Gaulle on 1 June 2009 has been located.

This discovery, coming only days after the Air France and Airbus funded fourth sea search was launched, is good news indeed since it gives hope that information on the causes of the accident, so far unresolved, will be found. Answers will perhaps therefore be found to the questions that, since 1 June 2009, families of the victims, our airline and the aviation community worldwide have asked as to how this tragic accident occurred.

Speaking on behalf of the airline, I would like to thank not only the French authorities who employed hitherto unheard of means to pursue searches but also the crew of the Alucia and all the teams who are going to take part in, as we all hope, the retrieval of the flight recorders