Search ships methodically worked through a “sea of debris” from a doomed Air France jet Sunday, recovering 15 more bodies near the spot where the Airbus A330 is believed to have gone down a week earlier.
Two bodies were recovered Saturday, and Brazilian and French ships picked up 15 more Sunday afternoon after pilots participating in a grid search reported additional sightings. The bodies have been found in an area about 45 miles from where the jet sent out messages signaling electrical failures and loss of cabin pressure.
“We’re navigating through a sea of debris,” Brazilian Navy Capt. Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso said.
Brazil’s military was not releasing detailed information about bodies or debris that have not been taken aboard ships, after sea trash was mistaken last week for a cargo pallet from the plane, prompting criticism.
Flight 447 disappeared and likely broke up in midair in turbulent weather May 31 during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard — all presumed dead.
The investigation is increasingly focused on whether external instruments on the Airbus A330 may have iced over, confusing speed sensors and leading computers to set the plane’s speed too fast or slow — a potentially deadly mistake.
In Brazil, Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said nine bodies have been recovered by Brazilian authorities: four men, four women and one that was impossible to identify by gender. He said he did not have information about the genders of the eight bodies recovered by French military helicopters that were transferred to a French ship.
Munhoz and Cardoso declined to comment on the condition of the bodies, saying that information would be too emotionally painful for relatives.
Authorities also said searchers spotted two airplane seats and debris with Air France’s logo and recovered dozens of structural components from the plane. They had already recovered wing fragments.
Munhoz said there is “no more doubt” that the wreckage is from Flight 447.
