Air France 447

Recovered bodies being shipped to archipelago

Article published on the 2009-06-08 Latest update 2009-06-08 12:55 TU

A piece of debris from Air France flight 447 on the deck of a Brazilian Navy vessel some 1200 km northeast of Recife, 7 June 2009
(Photo: Reuters)

The bodies of 17 people who died on Air France flight 447 were on their way on Monday to Fernando de Noronha, the Atlantic archipelago belonging to Brazil. Meanwhile, Brazilian and French ships and planes are searching the crash area for more bodies and wreckage.

The bodies are scheduled to arrive Fernando de Noronha on Tuesday. Also on board the ships carrying them are structural components from the plane.

Those bodies will ultimately be flown to Recife, Brazil for identification through DNA and dental records, the country's military says.

A French nuclear submarine is due on Wednesday to arrive and search for the flight recording devices. The US navy is also contributing two towable "pinger" locators which will attempt to pick up the homing beacons emitted by the boxes.

Also on its way to the area is a small French research submarine, the Nautile. It played a role in the rediscovery of the Titanic and is capable of operating at depths of 6 kilometres, the maximum in this part of the ocean. If the boxes are found, the Nautile may be able to pick them out of the water

Also on Monday, Airbus, the manufacturer of the airliner which went down, defended the model's safety record.

Chief Operating Officer John Leahy told Dow Jones Newswires that the A330 is a "very reliable" plane. He called it a "workhorse of the world transport industry" and pointed out that A330s have been flying for 15 years with relatively few accidents.