Four more bodies found in Air France crash search
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Four more bodies found in Air France crash search*
* Annie Kelly in Fernando de Noronha and Associated Press in Recife
* guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 June 2009 20.18 BST
Four more bodies were recovered and more spotted in the sea about 400
miles from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha today as the
search continued for the remains of the 228 people aboard the doomed Air
France jet that disappeared off Brazil's north-east coast last Monday.
The recovery of the bodies came after a night of "intense activity" by
the fleet of 14 aeroplanes, five naval ships and one French vessel
deployed to scour the remote waters around Fernando de Noronha, amid
fears that deteriorating weather over the next 24 hours may hamper
recovery operations.
The four bodies brought the number of those recovered to six, Brazil's
military said. Authorities said pilots searching the mid-Atlantic also
spotted an undetermined number of additional bodies from the air and
were sending ships to recover them.
Flight 447 disappeared in turbulent weather on 31 May during a flight
from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard – all now presumed
dead. The investigation is increasingly focused on whether external
instruments may have iced over, confusing speed sensors and leading
computers to set the plane's speed too fast or slow – a potentially
deadly mistake.
The French agency investigating the disaster said airspeed instruments
on the plane had not been replaced as the maker had recommended, but
warned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what role that
may have played in the crash.
The agency, BEA, said the plane received inconsistent airspeed readings
from different instruments as it struggled in a huge thunderstorm.
In Brazil, Air Force Colonel Henry Munhoz said he could not immediately
provide information on how many more bodies were spotted from the air.
None of the bodies recovered had documents with them to indicate their
identities, and the authorities did not specify their gender. The first
two bodies, found on Saturday, were men.
The four bodies were found about 45 miles from the point where the jet
sent out a burst of messages indicating it was experiencing a series of
electric failures and losing cabin pressure. All the bodies that have
been recovered were found in the same general area.
The authorities also announced that searchers spotted two aeroplane
seats and other debris with Air France's logo, and they have recovered
wing fragments and other debris.
Munhoz said there was "no more doubt" that the wreckage was from Flight 447.
Hundreds of personal items belonging to passengers have been recovered,
but Munhoz said the authorities would not immediately identify them,
after the reaction of relatives when authorities yesterday announced the
discovery of a laptop computer and a briefcase with a plane ticket
inside it.
"We don't want to cause them more suffering," Munhoz said.
The bodies and plane wreckage will be transported tomorrow to the
islands of Fernando de Noronha, where the military has set up a staging
post for the search operation. From there, remains and debris will be
taken to the north-eastern coastal city of Recife for identification.