Brazil - Brazzil Mag - Brazil Finds Wreckage on the Sea But No Bodies of Air France Jet

The Brazilian military says that it has found wreckage from the Air France passenger jet that disappeared with 228 people on board while flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. The information about the finding came from the country's Defense ministry.

Brazilian Defense minister, Nelson Jobim, said on Tuesday, June 2, that there was "no doubt" that Flight AF447 had crashed into the Atlantic after Brazilian military aircraft found debris along a 5 km stretch of the ocean.

Speaking in Rio de Janeiro, Jobim said that the find "confirms that the plane went down in that area", hundreds of kilometers from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

No bodies have yet been spotted among what was said to be metallic and non-metallic debris. Search aircraft continue to scour the area and the first navy ships are expected to arrive any time.

The wreckage was spotted about 1,000 km off the country's coast and included aircraft seats, an orange buoy, metallic objects and fuel slicks.

Brazilian commercial pilots said earlier on Tuesday that they had spotted what appeared to be fire in the Atlantic.

The Air France flight from Brazil to France with 228 people on board dropped off radar screens on Monday morning, hours after taking off from Rio de Janeiro.

The authorities say they are still trying to determine what caused the accident but think there is no chance of finding survivors.

The airliner had encountered a severe thunderstorm before sending an automated message saying that its electrical system had failed at 02:14 GMT on Monday.

Pierre-Henry Gourgeon, Air France's chief executive, said "several electrical systems had broken down".

"It is probable that it was shortly after these messages that the impact in the Atlantic came," he said.

Jean-Louis Borloo, the French environment minister, said officials did not believe the Airbus A330-200 could have been brought down by something as simple as a bolt of lightning, which previous reports had suggested.

"There really had to be a succession of extraordinary events to be able to explain this situation," he told RTL radio.

He said "the race against the clock has begun" to find the aircraft's two data recorders, commonly known as "black boxes", which emit signals for up to 30 days.

Alain Bouillard, who led the probe into the crash of a Concorde in July 2000, has been put in charge of France's accident investigation team.

Herve Morin, France's Defense minister, said "we have no signs so far" of terrorism, but all hypotheses must be studied.

Air France said the 216 passengers from 32 countries comprised 126 men, 82 women, seven children and a baby. More than half of the passengers were either French or Brazilian. There were also 12 French crew members on board.

If confirmed that all 228 people on board are dead, it would be the worst loss of life in Air France's history and civil aviation's worst accident for more than a decade.

Air France
written by Anderson, June 03, 2009

Dont you think it could be a bomb???

On my perspective it could only be that the pilot decided to cut through the storm isntead of going away from it or it may have been brought down by a bomb.

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to many brasilians on the plane
written by Forrest Allen Brown, June 03, 2009

and one of them was using there cell phone

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Forrest
written by João da Silva, June 03, 2009

to many brasilians on the plane
written by Forrest Allen Brown, June 03, 2009
and one of them was using there cell phone

No Forrest, it is more likely that Lepore and Palladino were flying a brand new plane from Paris to SP. BTW, I was shocked to see the Americans using their cell phones while driving more than the Brasilians do (at least in our state).

It is quite unlikely that any Brasilian would have disobeyed the instruction to turn off the cell phone on that flight. On the other hand, the it is highly probable that the disciples of Sarko were operating their cell phones, in spite of the instructions by the Flight Purser not to do so. Air France does have good flight and cabin crew, but the French passengers are unruly.

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Technical failures
written by Lodewicus Maas, June 04, 2009

On Cable TV I've seen a few documentaries on "Flight Crash Investigations" where faulty gauges caused planes to go down without the pilots even knowing it because at night time the pilots can see squad without their radar equipment. One scenario was were the radar en height meters were were faulty and the autopilot was flying the plane lower and lower - very slowly, until it eventually crashed - no warning indications as the radar was faulty. In another scenario the fuel gauges was faulty and the plane did not took enough fuel as it showed that the plane had enough fuel, and the plane also crashed over the sea. In another scenario a fuel gauge on a plane was replaced with a new one - BUT from the wrong model - and it also indicated wrong information which had the pilots run out of fuel as well, and all the people died.

Questions I have: When was the last repairs done on the plane ?? Maybe the repairs was not that well done. I've been myself in a Boeing 747-400 when it was hit by Lightning - one massive noise, but it did not go down. This was also a fly-by-wire plane - what if the fuselage was damaged by lightning which damaged the wiring to the motors in the wings that control the plane. The same damage would also have damaged the feeds to the black boxes in the Tail of the plane, which will have them also not record anything.

It is extremely important that the black boxes must be found, to allow Airbus to learn from this, and also all other plane manufacturers

Can we please stop the sick jokes about the crash - A lot of people have lost love ones and the only thing they need now is your prayers , not your jokes

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a spanish pilot saw a fire ball going down....
written by asp, June 04, 2009

there is a report that a spanish pilot saw a fire ball going down in the area

that means it happened while flying. i suggest they hit a blast of wind so strong it sent the plane dirictly down and some fuel might have gotten sparked and blew up in mid air

it happened so fast they didnt even have a chance to radio that they were in trouble. only a heavy devastating wind blast could cause that

cel phones only come into play in take offs and landings, they dont affect the plane they affect the towers ability to comunicate with the plane

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YOU DO NOT FLY INTO A STORM
written by Forrest Allen Brown, June 04, 2009

ANY plane driver will tell you .

you fly around them or turn back as they have killed more people than air war fare

joao , cell phone use while driving a car is just out of hand in every country .

you can rember when you only had a phone at the store down the street .
and if you had one at home you were doing good in life .

i wonder if the US couple house has been robed in brasil yet ???? or has the police locked it up and put out the hired help
to protect the couples personal stuff for there family or will it be like goldmans case and remain in brasil as it is brasilian now

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