Brazilian air force finds plane debris: official

Relatives and friends of Air France flight AF447 passengers leave at a crisis center at the Tom Jobim International airport in Rio de Janeiro — Reuters Photo

Brazilian air force aircraft searching the Atlantic Ocean Tuesday for a missing Air France flight that had been carrying 228 people have found debris from a plane, AFP quoted an air force spokesman as saying.The ‘small remains’ were located 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Brazil’s Fernando do Noronha island.It could not immediately be confirmed that the debris were from Air France flight AF 447, spokesman Jorge Amaral told reporters.Among the pieces of wreckage located was an aircraft seat, he said.‘The search is continuing because it’s very little material in relation to the size’ of the Air France Airbus A330, he said.Amaral added that officials needed ‘a piece that might have a serial number, some sort of identification’ to be sure that it came from the missing airliner.The Fernando do Noronha archipelago lies 370 kilometers (230 miles) off Brazil’s northeast coast.Air France flight AF 447 disappeared Monday, four hours into an 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.Searchers were to follow the plane’s course up to the point it lost contact with Brazilian controlers.That zone, located deep in the Atlantic Ocean almost halfway between the South American and African continents, was determined by the last signal received from AirFrance flight AF 447: an automatic data signal telling of multiple electric and pressurization failures.The Air France Airbus A330 was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished at 0220 GMT Monday, four hours into an 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. No distress message was sent.