RIO DE JANEIRO: A French nuclear-powered submarine has arrived in the area of the Atlantic where an Air France plane crashed last week, and is searching for the flight recorders, the Brazilian Air Force said.
So far 41 bodies have been recovered from the June 1 crash of Flight 447 en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, which was carrying 228 passengers and crew.
Air Force Brig. Gen. Ramon Cardoso told reporters that the submarine will not be participating in the search for the plane’s wreckage and missing bodies.
“Its priority is the search for flight recorders from the crashed plane,” he said, adding that the search operation for the missing bodies will continue until June 19.
A large section of the tail fin has been recovered from the site, located 965 kilometers (600 miles) northeast of the Brazilian islands of Fernando de Noronha.
Experts said earlier that the recovery of the largely intact tail fin suggested the airliner broke up in flight before crashing into the water. The find raised hopes of tracing the flight recorders, which are located in the rear of the aircraft.
Air France has said it will replace all airspeed monitors in its A330s and A340s in the next few days over concerns that faulty instruments may have caused the crash.
