Investigators using new computer calculations believe they have narrowed their search for the flight recorders of Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean nearly a year ago, AP quoted officials as saying on Thursday. Researchers have determined an area about the size of Paris, based on new analysis of data retrieved during the initial search efforts, when the black box recorders were still emitting «pinging» signals, French Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Christian Baptiste said. That is much smaller than the 2,000-square-kilometer (770-square-mile) zone targeted in a search effort last month. «Does this mean we will find the black boxes? We are far from certainty,» Baptiste told a news conference. He said investigators will still be facing the prospect of searching for recorders the size of a shoe box in a large area of Andes-like undersea terrain. All 228 people were killed when the plane crashed en route from Brazil to France in June 1 into a distant area of the mid-Atlantic. The voice and data recorders are believed to rest on a mountainous area of seabed, perhaps as much as 13,100 feet (4,000 meters) deep. Without the black boxes, investigators have been unable to determine the cause of the crash. -- SPA
