Brazil Air Force Spots Plane Debris in Atlantic Ocean

World | June 2, 2009, Tuesday // 16:37
Brazil Air Force Spots Plane Debris in Atlantic Ocean: Brazil Air Force Spots Plane Debris in Atlantic Ocean Relatives and friends wait at Tom Jobim airport in Rio de Janeiro for information about the Air France's Airbus A330-200 airplane, which disappeared while flying between Brazil and France. Photo by BGNES

A Brazilian air force aircraft spotted Tuesday debris in the Atlantic that could be from the Air France jet which went missing with 228 people aboard a day earlier.

The information was reported by the Washington Post.

A Brazilian Air Force spokesman said in a TV broadcast that airplane seats and other white and metallic debris were found floating in the ocean, northeast of the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, adding it was not immediately known whether the debris came from the missing plane.

Officials say they need "a piece that might have a serial number, some sort of identification" to be able to make the final determination.

Brazilian authorities announced earlier that they were investigating reports that another passenger plane's crew saw "bright spots" in the ocean.

French Defense Minister Herve Morin has stressed there is still "no evidence whatsoever" as to the cause of the plane's loss.

"We cannot, by definition, exclude a terrorist attack, because terrorism is the main threat for all Western democracies," he added.

Junior Transportation Minister, Dominique Bussereau, warned that the search for the remains of the plane and its passengers could continue for a long time. French officials and airline pilots note that the plane could have plummeted directly into the water or flown on for hundreds of miles, making the search zone a long, broad path across the ocean between northeast Brazil and far western Africa.

The Airbus 330-200 was last heard from early Monday. Flight AF 447 was heading from Brazil to Paris when it disappeared. There is little hope of finding survivors from among the 228 passengers and crew aboard the flight.

Vessels from France, Spain, Senegal and Brazil are involved in the search. In addition to help with satellite reconnaissance, the Pentagon dispatched a surveillance aircraft and an Air Force search-and-rescue team from the U.S. Southern Command air base in El Salvador.

 

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