Air France Searchers Recover 75 Bodies

Robots find cabin and engines of crashed jet

(NEWSER) - Underwater robots have located the bodies of some of those who died in the Air France flight 447 crash two years ago, France’s Ecology Minister revealed on the radio today. “We have bodies… there are bodies that are still in the parts that have been found,” the minister said, according to CNN . Yesterday investigators said they’d found bits of debris , but now “it seems that we have discovered the wreckage site,” said another minister. The AP reports that the plane’s engines and part of its cabin have been found along with the bodies. More»

(NEWSER) - Brazil's Navy and Air Force gave up their search for Air France Flight 447 victims today, citing the difficulty of finding bodies and wreckage 25 days after the crash, Reuters reports. "It's already been nine days without seeing any bodies," a Brazilian officer said. French ships will remain, seeking black boxes that may help solve the mystery of the crash. Fifty-one bodies and 600 pieces of wreckage have been recovered so far. More»

(NEWSER) - Autopsy reports indicate that Air France flight 447 did not crash because of a terrorist strike, the Independent reports. Examinations of the first 16 bodies—all recovered whole—show no signs of explosion, fire, or penetration by shards of metal. The autopsy details, leaked to the Brazilian press this weekend, leave authorities all the more baffled by the fatal crash. More»

(NEWSER) - The Brazilian Air Force has recovered the first two bodies from the Air France crash, the BBC reports. They also found a suitcase and a backback with a laptop inside. “We confirm the recovery from the water debris and bodies from the Air France plane," an air force spokesman said. “We can't give more information without confirming what we have.” The remains were recovered this morning, and experts are on their way to investigate. More»

(NEWSER) - How will authorities go about finding Air France Flight 447? Essentially, it'll take a lot more planes, Slate explains. Most of the jet’s location gadgets, like its emergency locator transmitters, are unlikely to work underwater. The flight recorders have sonar devices attached that can transmit from 14,000 feet down, but one needs to be relatively nearby to detect them. More»