The tools and techniques of accident investigation continue to advance. In the past, flight data recorders could capture only five aspects of aircraft performance; some current digital devices can record more than 1,000. With new software, investigators can also make better use of that data in documenting an aircraft's final moments. Not only has accident in-rnvestigation grown more sophisticated, air travel has become safer. With these strides, unsolved-or partially unsolved-cases have become rarer. Still, one such rarity may be developing in the South Atlantic. As this article goes to press, the inquiry into the 2009 crash of Air France Flight 447 continues.
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