Downed jetliner's search crew accused of chasing tail

Last week, the wreckage search crew looking for debris from Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean discovered the tail of the aircraft. The airline and World Aviation Federation (WAF) officials are seeking answers to what caused the jetliner to lose altitude, or come apart at peak altitude, and crash into the ocean off the coast of west Africa.

The WAF has given those searching—more than 60 workers on 12 ships and five helicopters—direct orders to seek, and bring to the surface, only the jet's black box, also known as the flight data recorder.

Officials in charge of the search were disappointed and angered when the team recovered the tail of the plane last week, disregarding clearly stated instructions.

"They're always chasing tail when we need them to chase the black box. They look at finding the tail as a very manly thing. It's a competition among the entire group," said a very frustrated Marc Luc Gaulle, an Air France search and recovery specialist.

When the tail was brought to the surface at around 13:10 GMT, the boat's eight crew members used air horns and the two-way radio to alert the rest of the group that "they were all over that tail."

Some crew members were seen patting the tail lightly with an open palm as it broke the surface of the water, while a few divers wore speedos and sat directly on top the twisted metal.

"It took some serious persuasion and, not to mention, some negotiating, but we got some tail today," said Brazilian diver, Ronald Saldenha. "It's an important part in determining what happened to the plane."

The wreckage recovery team is mostly made up of French and Brazilian men who, all too often, are labeled as very smooth with the ladies—Casanovas if you will.

Ship captain Raul Pemeta said his crew was working very hard to recover the black box and it was only by chance that the tail was recovered first. When asked why orders to only raise the box were ignored he responded:"We came across the tail, are we suppose to leave it there all alone and take the risk that the tail will up and walk away, er, wash away? The tail would have been insulted and we may not have gotten a second chance with that tail."

After the piece was placed on the deck of a ship and group photos were taken surrounding the vertical steering section, some of the most experienced divers at the site were quickly loaded onto helicopters and taken to Dakar Airport in Senegal for flights home to France or Brazil.

"The fact that the best divers left to go home after the tail was recovered is a clear indication of their intention. It really sickens me," said Luc Gaulle.

The ship captain reported those divers were not feeling well, possibly a bends issue, and left to receive medical care.