Airbus hopes cockpit recorder to help explain AirAsia crash

[TOULOUSE] The head of planemaker Airbus on Tuesday welcomed the retrieval of the cockpit voice recorder from the sunken wreckage of the AirAsia A320 plane that crashed two weeks ago killing all 162 people aboard.

The voice recorder from Indonesia AirAsia Flight QZ8501 will be sent to Jakarta for analysis as investigators try to piece together what happened to cause the plane to crash into the sea in bad weather on Dec 28.

"This gives me hope that the investigation will bring clarity, because what we want to do is go through the detailed analysis of the possible root causes," Fabrice Bregier told a news conference after Airbus published order and delivery figures for 2014.

"We will do whatever we can to support the investigation... and make sure all lessons are drawn for the future."

The Airbus unit CEO added that air transport remained the safest way to travel around the world because safety was the top priority for the aircraft manufacturing industry.

REUTERS