Families Join Manslaughter Probe in Plane Crash

(AP) - A French investigator says Air France Flight 447 did not break up in flight but plunged vertically into the Atlantic Ocean. Alain Bouillard, leading the investigation into the June 1 crash for the French accident investigation agency BEA, also says life vests found among the wreckage of the plane were not inflated. 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) - An Air France flight scheduled from Buenos Aires to Paris was delayed last week because of a phoned-in bomb threat, according to Brazilian media. Authorities searched the plane for 90 minutes before allowing it to take off. Nothing was found. The delay occurred just three days before Air France flight 447 traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris mysteriously crashed into the Atlantic. Salvage crews are racing today to the scene where the plane's wreckage was spotted yesterday. More»

(NEWSER) - A missing Air France jet hit thunderstorms over the Atlantic, likely crashing and killing all 228 people on board, the AP reports. Half an hour after falling out of Brazilian radio contact, the Airbus A330 "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence”; Nicolas Sarkozy told families of those aboard that "prospects of finding survivors were very small." More»

Neither co-pilot had been trained for sensor malfunctions, new report says

(AP) - The crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not appear to know that the plane was in a stall, despite repeated warning signals, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before the jet plunged into the sea, according to new findings released today. Based on cockpit recordings from the crash, the French air accident investigation agency is recommending mandatory training for all pilots to help them fly planes manually and handle a high-altitude stall. More»