By agreement with the Interstate Aviation Committee, the BEA is issuing the following statement:

In the course of the investigation on the accident to the Airbus 320 registered EK-32009 that crashed on 2 May 2006 (3 May local time) off the coast of Sochi, the Interstate Aviation Committee (MAK) used the Airbus SAS simulation facilities in Toulouse from 3 to 6 July.

Representatives from the Armenian and Russian Civil Aviation Authorities, and the BEA and its advisors from Airbus SAS, in accordance with international regulations relating to the investigation of civil aviation accidents, participated in the work.

Airbus SAS made its engineering simulator available, which can fully reproduce the behaviour of the A320-211 model and the information provided to the pilots during the flight. The Investigation Commission’s test pilot and pilots from Armenian and Russian airlines, with the participation of Airbus test and instructor pilots, were able to replay the accident flight on the basis of the flight recorder data.

Useful information was obtained that needs to be analyzed and compared with the data already available.

Note: in accordance with Annex 13, no further information in relation to the work carried out in Toulouse will be issued by the French or Armenian authorities since the investigation is the sole responsibility of the Interstate Aviation Committee.