Air France disaster: Debris in Atlantic confirmed as from missing plane
Air France disaster: Debris in Atlantic confirmed as from missing plane
Debris spotted in the Atlantic Ocean belongs to the Air France plane that disappeared on Monday, officials have confirmed. A band of wreckage was seen in a three mile strip of water 400 miles off the coast of Brazil.
An aeroplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of jet fuel were spotted in the Atlantic, reports the BBC. A Brazilian navy ship is expected to arrive in the area this morning to begin recovering the wreckage.
Captain Christophe Prazuck, an official from the French military, confirmed that the debris belonged to flight AF 447: "While formal confirmation must still be obtained by recovering debris and carrying out technical analysis, there is no longer any room for doubt."
Search teams are hoping to recover the Air France plane's cockpit
voice and data recorders, which they hope will give clearer information about what happened to the flight. However, Brazil's defence minister, Nelson Jobim, said that a difficult task lies ahead: "[They] could be at a depth of 2,000m or 3,000m in that area of the ocean." The recorders send signals for approximately 30 days.
France's prime minister, Fracois Fillon, said that search teams were "in
a race against the clock". Brazil, France and the US have all sent boats and planes to help in the mission. However, the Brazilian navy warns that the weather in the area is poor.
All of the plane's 228 passengers and crew are assumed dead following the incident in the early hours of Monday morning.
Five Britons were among those aboard, including an eleven year old boy returning to Clifton College school in Bristol, a PR director for car manufacturer Mazda and two oil workers. Three Irish doctors are also feared dead.
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