More bodies have been recovered from the Atlantic in the area where a French jet disappeared last week, bringing the total number to 17, officials say.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtNr6XH7hg
Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, June 8, 2009 with stories from CTV and the BBC
Dozens of pieces of debris from the Air France plane were also picked up by Brazilian and French ships. They were found some 1,000km (600 miles) north-east of Brazil’s Fernando de Noronha islands where the Airbus disappeared with 228 people.
Meanwhile, the investigation is looking into faulty speed sensors on the plane.
Brazilian and French ships recovered 15 bodies on Sunday – six days after the crash. Two bodies had been retrieved on Saturday.
Brazilian officials say four of the bodies are of men and four are of women. There is no word on the others.
The remains will be taken by ship to the nearby archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, before being moved to the Brazilian city of Recife, where a temporary mortuary has been established.
Relatives of those on board the AF 447 flight have already provided DNA to help in the identification process.
A Brazilian navy spokesman said search crews were working despite poor weather.
He said about 100 objects had been spotted in the crash zone, including seats with the Air France logo and oxygen masks.
Some have spoken of “a sea of debris”, the BBC’s Gary Duffy in Sao Paulo reports.
A total of six ships and 14 planes from France and Brazil are involved in the operation.
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.
Air France has said it is 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.
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