Air France crash probe to release initial report on July 2

Posted: 26 June 2009 0357 hrs

Debris of the Air France aircraft lost in midflight over the Atlantic Ocean is seen on board a Brazilian Navy Corvette

PARIS - The French agency probing the mid-Atlantic crash of an Air France jet said Thursday it would release an initial report on its findings on July 2.

The Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA) leading the technical inquiry into the June 1 crash said it would present the report at a press conference at its headquarters in the Paris suburbs.

Flight AF 447 went down around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) off Brazil's northeast coast as it was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board.

The cause of the disaster is not known. Speculation has swirled about whether the plane broke up in the air, perhaps from strong turbulence, or on hitting the water.

Air France said earlier that the plane's pilot and one of its stewards have been identified among the bodies pulled out of the sea.

Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau told the French Senate on Thursday that 51 bodies had been recovered so far.

- AFP /ls

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

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