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>> translator: thank you, all, very much. >> and that was the french air safety director. nbc's claudio lavanga is still with us at the crash site. also with us john cox, a retired airline pilot who has flown the a-320. john, the important information we got was that the voice recorder is being analyzed. it may takes weeks or months. they've found some data. they have not been able to identify the actual voices yet. he went through details. they have not found the second black box, contrary to some reports that the envelope or the casing for it was found in pieces. they have not found it but t...

We know what happened with that accident. the air asia crash that happened just around -- between christmas and new year's, was also an a-320. and the french authorities are investigating that. we still don't know what caused that plane to go down, although we have some clues in terms of weather and other kinds of things. but it's -- there's a very good track record. and, again, we have to remind ourselves and the public that aviation is still the safest form of travel, as witnessed of the record of not only this airline, but so many others. >> katie higgins, thank you very much. >> thank you....

What puzzles veteran crash investigators is why the crew never radioed a mayday. >> they didn't provide a stress call. they didn't indicate in anyway shape or form a problem with the aircraft. that's very unusual, given the fact that they were 38,000 feet. they would have been in complete communication with air track control. >> reporter: among the scenarios verdicts will have to consider, was there an emergency to force a rapid descent, if that was the problem the pilot should have levelled the plane out at 10,000 feet where there is plenty of oxygen. instead, it kept descending. so were the ...

European american air travel is quite good generally, right? >> it is very good. we've had accidents. i mean, airbus -- air france had a major accident, not in france, but heading towards france from brazil. we know what happened with that accident. the air asia crash that happened just around -- between christmas and new year's, was also an a-320. and the french authorities are investigating that. we still don't know what caused that plane to go down, although we have some clues in terms of weather and other kinds of things. but it's -- there's a very good track record. and, again, we have to...

In all probability may have lost an engine. that gives you a clear may day. then you start running through the check list. if you're single engine over these mountainous areas. -- by the time he took off, you would have to see how much altitude he could possibly gain. and he -- losing it at 6,800 feet, in that area, that 30 minutes of decent was filled with check list and trying to maintain altitude. >> this particular plane should be able to stay aloft on one engine, right? >> it should be able to stay aloft with one engine. when you're in a mountainous area and you've got that load of people...