Paris:
Latest investigations into the Air France crash reveal one of the worst situations ever known in an accident.
Autopsies have revealed fractures in the legs, hips and arms of Air France disaster victims. Injuries that - coupled with the large pieces of wreckage pulled from the Atlantic - strongly suggest the plane broke up in the air, experts said on Wednesday.
With more than 400 bits of debris recovered from the ocean's surface, a top French investigator expressed optimism about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions - far from land in very deep waters - "one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation."
A spokesman for Brazilian medical examiners said that fractures were found in autopsies on an undisclosed number of the 50 bodies recovered so far.
The official spoke on condition that he will not be named due to department rules.
The six most recently recovered bodies were taken to the mortuary in Recife on Wednesday for identification.
The pattern of fractures was first reported on Wednesday by Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, which cited unnamed investigators.
The paper also reported that some victims were found with little or no clothing, and had no signs of burns.
Searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries are methodically scanning the surface and depths of the Atlantic for signs of the Airbus A330 that crashed on May 31 after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
All 228 people aboard were killed.
Brazilian Air Force Colonel Henry Munhoz said in a news conference on Wednesday that several body parts, as well as pieces of the plane and luggage were found in the search area by the French amphibian ship, Mistral.
Munhoz did not provide further details, and Brazilian Captain Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso said "a significant" number of body parts had been retrieved from the ocean.
Still missing are the plane's flight data and voice recorders, thought to be deep under water.
French-chartered ships are trolling a search area with a radius of 50 miles (80 kilometres), pulling US Navy underwater listening devices attached to 19,700 feet (6,000 metres) of cable.
The black boxes send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1.25 miles (two kilometres) away, but these locator beacons will begin to fade after just two more weeks.
Without the black boxes to help explain what went wrong, the investigation has focused on a flurry of automated messages sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact; one suggests external speed sensors had iced over, destabilising the plane's control systems.
Air France has replaced the sensors, called Pitot tubes, on all its A330 and A340 aircraft, under pressure from pilots who feared a link to the accident.
Brazil's Federal Police and state medical authorities in Recife who are overseeing the autopsies said in a statement that two French investigators, a dental expert and a doctor, had been following the examinations as observers since June 10.
The French are leading the crash investigation, while the Brazilians are leading the rescue operation.
Autopsies have revealed fractures in the legs, hips and arms of Air France disaster victims. Injuries that - coupled with the large pieces of wreckage pulled from the Atlantic - strongly suggest the plane broke up in the air, experts said on Wednesday.
With more than 400 bits of debris recovered from the ocean's surface, a top French investigator expressed optimism about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions - far from land in very deep waters - "one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation."
A spokesman for Brazilian medical examiners said that fractures were found in autopsies on an undisclosed number of the 50 bodies recovered so far.
The official spoke on condition that he will not be named due to department rules.
The six most recently recovered bodies were taken to the mortuary in Recife on Wednesday for identification.
The pattern of fractures was first reported on Wednesday by Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, which cited unnamed investigators.
The paper also reported that some victims were found with little or no clothing, and had no signs of burns.
Searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries are methodically scanning the surface and depths of the Atlantic for signs of the Airbus A330 that crashed on May 31 after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
All 228 people aboard were killed.
Brazilian Air Force Colonel Henry Munhoz said in a news conference on Wednesday that several body parts, as well as pieces of the plane and luggage were found in the search area by the French amphibian ship, Mistral.
Munhoz did not provide further details, and Brazilian Captain Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso said "a significant" number of body parts had been retrieved from the ocean.
Still missing are the plane's flight data and voice recorders, thought to be deep under water.
French-chartered ships are trolling a search area with a radius of 50 miles (80 kilometres), pulling US Navy underwater listening devices attached to 19,700 feet (6,000 metres) of cable.
The black boxes send out an electronic tapping sound that can be heard up to 1.25 miles (two kilometres) away, but these locator beacons will begin to fade after just two more weeks.
Without the black boxes to help explain what went wrong, the investigation has focused on a flurry of automated messages sent by the plane minutes before it lost contact; one suggests external speed sensors had iced over, destabilising the plane's control systems.
Air France has replaced the sensors, called Pitot tubes, on all its A330 and A340 aircraft, under pressure from pilots who feared a link to the accident.
Brazil's Federal Police and state medical authorities in Recife who are overseeing the autopsies said in a statement that two French investigators, a dental expert and a doctor, had been following the examinations as observers since June 10.
The French are leading the crash investigation, while the Brazilians are leading the rescue operation.
