Due to internet piracy we needed to close access to proxies. If you have to use the proxy of your company, contact us. We'll check the IP address and possibly reenable access. The benefits of subscription
Get the news right onto your desktop when they happen
Put the news on your website/in your newspaper By subscribing to our service you can get the news mailed right onto your desktop as soon as The Aviation Herald reports them and get permission to publish the news/articles on your website or reprint them in your newspaper (but not to relicense/redistribute them to other venues), provided you print proper reference (avherald) or provide a proper link to our article on your online publication.
The Aviation Herald offers quite sophisticated criteria to enable you select exactly those news, that are of real interest to you. But of course, you can also have all news mailed right onto your desktop, too. The subscription requires, that you sign up for an account first, then subscribe from your account. The subscription is only 240 € including 20% VAT per year, subscribers outside of the European Union save the VAT and pay only 200 €. Sign your account up or login below: UserID: Password:
The Aviation Herald iOS App
iPhone & iPad
Version 1.03
Support The Aviation Herald
one time
Monthly support 1 €/month
Interview: The human factor named "Simon Hradecky" and the team of man and machine
An Air France A330. 
Airbus have announced that they will be willing to contribute between €12 million and €20 million (about US$16 million to $28 million) to fund an extended search for the black boxes from Air France Flight 447. The  jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June, killing all 228 people on board.

Chief executive Thomas Enders said in a statement, "We want to know what happened, as improving air safety is our top priority. We are fully committed to support the extension of the search with a significant contribution." Although airframers normally supply technical assistance to investigations, the required impartiality makes funding rare, with Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath saying the company's move was unprecedented.

"This is an exceptional accident and an exceptional situation," Schaffrath explained. France's investigative agency BEA has requested financial assistance for the search from both Airbus and Air France. Air France have discussed this possibility with the BEA.

Investigators have already given up looking for the  and  using the conventional method of tracing audio 'pingers', the batteries of which would have expired after 30–40 days.  Efforts are ongoing using sensitive equipment under tow from a French naval vessel, but if this search proves fruitless then the BEA will seek money for a further three-month search.

The jet's  (ACARS) was able to transmit information regarding problems on board prior to the crash. The ACARS data suggests that the plane had suffered from a loss of valuable readings including airspeed, leading suspicion to fall on the  which supplies various measurements. 

Airbus had already recommended that one component of this system, the , be replaced on A330s. Air France had not done this on the accident airplane although the entire fleet now features the modified design. Three other incidents have been identified since that may involve similar circumstances. The United States National Transportation Safety Board is probing two over American soil while earlier this month another Air France A330 equipped with the new tubes suffered a similar series of problems enroute from Italy to France.