Update on the crash of Air Moorea Flight 1121

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.

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.

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.

The bodies of six passengers are still missing.

Air Moorea Twin Otter crashes shortly after takeoff

A Twin Otter turboprop aircraft with 20 people on board, operating as Air Moorea Flight 1121, has crashed in French Polynesia. News reports about the accident say that the scheduled inter-island flight had just taken off from Temae Airport (MOZ) on the island of Moorea, en route to Papeete, Tahiti when it crashed into the sea. The accident occurred today shortly after noon, local time.

The aircraft was reported to have come down about a mile off the coast of the island, beyond the lagoon. News reports say there are no signs of survivors, but that 14 bodies had been recovered, including that of the pilot. The French navy is continuing to search for possible survivors and other victims.

None of the victims have been identified by authorities in French Polynesia, however Radio Fiji is reporting that two senior staff of the European Union delegation based in Suva, Fiji were among the plane's passengers:

Michele Gache and Jean Pierre Tierard were on an official business trip inspecting a water purification project on Moorea Island.

EU Communications Officer and first counselor for the Suva delegation Florimond Van-der-Velde confirmed to Radionews the two were working for the European Union in Suva for the past three years.

Air Moorea is wholly owned by Air Tahiti. The airline has been in business for about 35 years. This was its first accident.

UPDATE August 11, 2007: The pilot of Air Moorea Flight 1121 who died in the accident has been identified by the airline as Captain Michel Santurenne, who had 3,500 hours of flight time. Born on September 6, 1954, he would have celebrated his 53rd birthday next month.

Captain Santurenne's body has been recovered, along with those of 13 passengers. The search continues for the six still missing.

A full list of passengers' names has not yet been released. Those seeking official information about the Air Moorea accident should visit the press release page on the Air Tahiti website.

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