By FEDERICO ESCHER and ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writers Federico Escher And Alan Clendenning, Associated Press Writers – 11 mins ago
FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil – Brazilian military planes found a 3-mile (5-kilometer) path of wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean, confirming that an Air France jet carrying 228 people crashed in the sea, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said Tuesday. Jobim told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that the discovery “confirms that the plane went down in that area,” hundreds of miles (kilometers) from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
“There isn’t the slightest doubt that the debris is from the Air France plane,” Jobim said.
He said the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces, but did not describe them in detail. No bodies were spotted in the crash of the Airbus A330 in which all aboard are believed to have died.
The discovery came just hours after authorities announced they had found an airplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean where ocean depths range from less than 1,610 meters (one mile) to more than 4,800 meters (three miles).
Jobim said recovery of the plane’s cockpit voice and data recorders and other wreckage could be difficult because much of the wreckage sank.
“It’s going to be very hard to search for it because it could be at a depth of 2,000 meters or 3,000 meters (1.2 miles to 1.8 miles) in that area of the ocean,” Jobim said.
Brazil confirms Air France jet crashed in ocean - Yahoo! News
Deepest condolences to the families of the passengers onboard the airliner. There are not words that can describe how they must be feeling at the sight of these news trickling in after 24 hours of intense waiting…