Tail fin recovered in search for jet crash black boxes

BRAZIL’S navy recovered the tail fin from the Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic a week ago, and was transporting 16 bodies to shore for identification.

The recovery of the fin was seen as important to the search for answers as to what knocked the Airbus A330, flight AF 447, out of the sky on June 1 as it was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board.

The plane's black boxes were mounted in the tail section, and the fin's location could narrow the underwater search for those devices by a French submarine expected to arrive in the zone on Wednesday.

A US navy team flew to Brazil yesterday with high-tech underwater listening devices to help the search for the black boxes.

Two US navy devices that can detect emergency beacons to a depth of 20,000ft will be delivered to ships that will then listen for transmissions from the black boxes, which are programmed to emit signals for at least 30 days.

Sixteen bodies were recovered on Saturday and Sunday about 70 kilometres from where the jet sent out messages signalling electrical failures and loss of cabin pressure.

Authorities also announced that 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 jet wing fragments, and said hundreds of personal items believed to belong to passengers were plucked from the water.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his nation’s military would do all it can to retrieve bodies and return them to relatives.