The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) from the Air Moorea Twin Otter that crashed in French Polynesia several days ago has been located by salvage teams at a depth of 430 meters (1,410 feet). The CVR was found using an acoustic apparatus from the French civil aviation agency's investigations unit.According to the International Herald Tribune, France will seek help from a U.S. ship to recover the device from the sunken wreckage of the plane.
The crash's cause was not immediately clear, but recovery of the recorder could help reveal what happened. The turboprops do not have black box recorders found in jets, but they do contain a device that records voice exchanges in the cabin.Meanwhile, Radio New Zealand International reports that a post-mortem examination performed on the pilot of Air Moorea Flight 1121 showed no sign of a heart problem. This suggests that a sudden health problem, such as a heart attack, was not the cause of the accident.
Recovery would require a boat with a pulley system and unmanned underwater device that could hoist the recorder up.
The Paris office of Prime Minister Francois Fillon said French authorities were seeking help from a U.S. ship with such an apparatus that could arrive faster than a similar French vessel.
The bodies of six passengers are still missing.
