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Monday, June 8, 2009

'More bodies found' from lost jet

A Brazilian Navy ship, bottom left, approaches debris that Brazilian authorities believe are from Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean, Saturday, June 6, 2008 (Photo: Brazilian Air Force)
Brazilian searchers found confirmed debris from the plane on Saturday

Three more bodies have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean near where the Air France flight is thought to have crashed last week, Brazil's navy says.

Searchers have recovered five bodies so far, and ships are heading towards more that have been spotted in the area.

They were found some 1,000km (600 miles) north-east of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha islands where Flight 447 disappeared with 228 people on board.

Meanwhile, the investigation is looking into faulty speed sensors on the plane.

The Brazilian navy did not specify the gender of the three new bodies. The first two, recovered on Saturday, were males.

A spokesman said ships should be able to recover the additional bodies within a few hours, despite poor weather conditions.

He said around 100 objects had also been spotted in the crash zone, including seats with the Air France logo and oxygen masks.

A total of six ships and 14 Brazilian and French planes are involved in the search effort.

Speed sensors

The investigation is increasingly focusing on the aircraft's speed sensors, which had been providing inconsistent data in the minutes before it disappeared in turbulent weather.

SEARCH FOR FLIGHT AF 447
1 June: Contact lost with plane over mid-Atlantic
2 June: First debris spotted from the air includes an airline seat. Brazilian defence minister says debris is from missing plane
3 June: More debris spotted, including a 7m-wide chunk of metal. Fuel slick seen on ocean surface
4 June: Buoys and pallet recovered from ocean said to be from plane. Officials later retract statement
6 June: First two bodies, plus suitcase and backpack found, along with seat thought to be from the plane
7 June: Three additional bodies recovered, more sighted


Earlier, Air France said it was stepping up the process of replacing speed monitors on board its Airbus planes.

The company said it had first noticed problems with speed monitors a year ago and began replacing them a few weeks before the accident.

But investigators said it was too soon to say if problems with the sensors were in any way responsible.

On Saturday, the Brazilian navy recovered the first confirmed debris from the plane, including a briefcase containing a ticket for Flight 447. Other debris linked to the flight included a blue seat and a backpack containing a computer.

The remains were found not far from where the last signal from the plane was received on Monday, and were taken to the islands of Fernando de Noronha to be examined by experts.

The search for the plane's flight data recorders - or black boxes - continues.



Sources above was found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8087991.stm

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