Air Canada Flight 624 crash investigators recover cockpit recorders

Investigators are collecting more evidence fromthe wreckage of Air Canada Flight 624, including new close up photos that showsevere damage to the aircraft and the recovery of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder.

The media footage appears to show a piece of antenna array lodged in the front of the plane where the nose of the aircraft was torn off during the crash early Sunday at Halifax StanfieldInternational Airport. Other damage includesa mangled wing, a smashed and detached engine and a missing wing at the tail of the plane.

• On mobile? Watch up close footage of the plane here

Transportation Safety Board of Canada investigators have been on scene since Sunday, and are examining the site with help from police drones.

Late Monday afternoon, the TSBtweeted out a photo of the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder recovered from the aircraft.

MikeCunningham, theregional manager for air investigations with theTSB, said the aerial photography will help them see the whole picture.

"In the past we've done thatwithfixed-wingaircraft, but now that we havethis access to the RCMP's dronecapabilities, it's a reallygreat way for us to get theaerial coverage and theaccident site that we need," he said Monday. "It is a big help."

• AC624 touched down 335 metres short of runway, TSB says
• 'You're thinking this is it. This is the end': passenger
• PHOTOS: Air Canada AC264 crashes in Halifax

On Monday, the investigators from across Canada and as far away as France begansearching the debris field where the AirbusA320from Torontocrash landed during snowy weather at HalifaxStanfieldInternational Airportwith 138 people aboard.Twenty-three people were taken to hospital. Nonesufferedcritical injuries.

Airbus, the company that made the plane, is sending staff as part of the investigation, to help figure out what went wrong.

Crews aresearching the debris field forevidence. The cockpit recorder andthe voice data recorder have been recovered and sent to Ottawa for analysis. The results are expected in a day or two.

Cunninghamsaid crews started by removing some medical supplies from the wreckage.

"We'll begin working withrepresentatives from Airbus thathave arrived here in Halifaxfrom Franceto begin discussionsabout how the aircraft can bedismantled and then eventuallyremoved from the site," he said.

He said it could take two to three days to clear the plane off the tarmac.

"The positionwhere the aircraft touched downso far back from the end of therunway, Imean, that terrain outthere is not prepared as alanding surface.The actual antenna array thatthey hit is kind of raised up from the ground a bit, sothings could have beenworse," he said.

Most passengers spent about an hour stuck at the crash site as airport staff scrambled to find a safe way to get them out of the heavy snowfall and inside.

• Why it took an hour to get passengers off Halifax runway

Investigators are also talking to passengers and crew, and examining the aircraft's maintenance records.

Cunningham said early indications showedweather conditions were "well within the legal landing limits" at the time of the crash landing.

"You can get sudden andunexpected wind gusts, but we'llbe looking at all of that," he said.

Possiblecauses of crash

It would be "singularly inappropriate" to immediately blame the pilots, safety expert Jock Williams cautioned.

The safety board says suchinvestigations are complicated, and it will take time to get to the bottom of what led to the crash.

Williams, a former military pilot and retired Transport Canada flight safety officer,says the pilots could be at fault, but investigators will also probe:

• Aircraft design.
• Possible instruments problems.
• Any other outside factors that could be to blame.

"Obviously the weather was marginal," Williams told CBC News.

"But they didn't go down there thinking that they were going to land short, break the gear off, hit the ground. They went down thinking, 'We'll take a look and if everything is good, we'll land.' And I'm sure that's what they intended to do.

"Something went amiss. And when we find out what went amiss, we'll be able to prevent it or try to prevent it, and further accidents."

The TSBsaid Sunday evening that AC624 touched down more than 300 metres short of the runway, and smashed through an antenna array and power linebefore finally skidding to a stop.

Excellent safety record

Air Canada says the two pilots guiding the plane have been with the airline for 15 years and have extensive experience with Airbus A320s.

Air Canada also has a good safety rating, according to AirlineRatings.com, which gives it seven out ofseven stars.Another safety website, Jacdec, last year ranked Air Canada the fourth-best airline in the world for safety.

The last major crash at the Halifax airport was in 2004, when a cargo plane crashed during takeoff, killing all seven aboard.

After an investigation that took nearly two years, the TSBconcluded fatigue and lack of training contributed to the crash of MK Airlines Limited Flight 1602.

Investigators said it was impossible to know exactly what happened because the flight voice recorder was destroyed in the fire. They did determine, however, that thecrew had been awake for 20 hours by the time the plane attempted takeoff.