Investigators to reveal soon if Flight 447 recorders contain usable data

The French Air Accident Investigation Bureau (BEA) said it may know Monday if the digital flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the ill-fated Air France Flight 447, recovered from the Atlantic nearly two years after the crash, contained usable data.

According to reports, the BEA is likely to make any meaningful data available as soon as possible to prevent in an attempt to prevent ''out of context leaks.''

"We will say what the state of the black boxes is. We'll be able to say if they are usable or if we'll need to do more work," BEA director Jean-Paul Troadec told media Thursday.

Troadec also said he was "fairly confident" that the flight data recorders would contain useful information, despite being submerged at a depth of 3,900 meters for 23 months.

But Troadec advised caution saying there would be no quick answers as the BEA couldn't predict how long it would take to turn data into conclusions.

Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic on 1 June 2009, en route between Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board. It was only last month that investigators found the main wreckage on the Atlantic sea-bed.