Atlantic debris 'not from missing Air France flight'
Debris recovered in Atlantic not from missing Air France jet, Brazilian officials claim
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Friday, 05, Jun 2009 11:04
Debris recovered from an area in the Atlantic where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed on Monday is not from the missing flight.
Despite having previously confirmed that debris including pallets, buoys and a 13-mile long oil slick was from the wreckage of flight AF447, on Friday Brazilian officials said the debris was in fact "trash".
The Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris was lost in the early hours of Monday morning with 228 people onboard.
Speaking to the Terra news service Ramon Borges Cardoso, the director of the Air Traffic Control Department in Brazil said: "We have not recovered any parts of the aeroplane so far."
This was supported by Air France who will release a more detailed statement later this morning.
Several navy vessels from Brazil are expected in the region – north-east of the Brazilian city of Recife. They will join aircraft from France, Spain and Senegal in the search for the wreckage of the plane.
At present the cause of the crash is not known. The most widely cited theory would suggest the flight was struck by lightning during a storm. However, former Air France pilots have suggested a modern aircraft of this type would be able to withstand such an incident.
Pilot error or an electrical malfunction may also have played a role.