FERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil, (Reuters) – Search crews flying over the Atlantic found debris from a crashed Air France jet spread over more than 55 miles (90 km) of ocean yesterday, reinforcing the possibility it broke up in the air.
But Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said the existence of large fuel stains in the water likely ruled out an explosion, undercutting speculation about a bomb attack.
“The existence of oil stains could exclude the possibility of a fire or explosion,” he said at a news conference in Brasilia. “If we have oil stains, it means it wasn’t burned.”
Experts said extreme turbulence or decompression may have caused the Airbus A330 to splinter two days ago on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board.
The first Brazilian navy ship was nearing the crash area, about 685 miles (1,100 km) northeast of Brazil’s coast, to begin retrieving debris. French officials said they may never discover why the plane went down as the flight data and voice recorders may be lost at the bottom of the ocean. Air force pilots searching the area have reported no signs of survivors and officials said recovering bodies may be extremely difficult.
“As well as bodies sinking, you also have problems along the coast of Pernambuco (state) that you know about,” Jobim said in reference to sharks. He added bodies could take several days to float to the surface.
Newly spotted traces of the plane included a 12-mile (20-km) fuel stain and various objects spread across a 3-mile (5-km) area, including one metallic object 23 feet (7 metres) in diameter.
The plane sent no mayday signals before crashing, only automatic messages indicating electrical faults and a loss of pressure shortly after it entered stormy weather.
“If the decompression reading was correct, it caused a structural problem … it is a very violent event that causes pieces to come apart and that explains why the wreckage is spread out so much,” said Kirk Koenig, a commercial pilot and president of Indianapolis-based Expert Aviation Consulting.
