Divers plunged into the frigid northern Atlantic at dawn yesterday, searching for the flight data recorders that could solve the mystery of the final six minutes of Swissair Flight 111.
Canadian Navy Capt Phil Webster says the Canadian submarine HMCS Okanogan detected a transponder signal from one of the black boxes at a depth of 190ft (58m) in the Atlantic.
Up to 75 divers from the Canadian Navy, Air Force and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were available to descend in teams into the depths on Sunday.
The deadly crash occurred as the jet, on a flight from New York to Geneva, manoeuvred to reduce altitude and dump fuel in a desperate attempt to reach Halifax airport, Canadian investigators said on Saturday.
Meanwhile, passengers on a Boeing 757 flight from Canada to Glasgow operated by Royal Air feared a repeat of the Swissair disaster when smoke was reported in the cockpit in the same area off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Just as the doomed Swissair captain had done less than 36h earlier, the pilot circled and dumped fuel into the Atlantic. But this time the jet touched down safely at a remote Canadian air base.
Source: Flight Daily News