Brazil recovers 3 more bodies near jet crash site

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By MARCO SIBAJA and ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writers

RECIFE, Brazil – Three more bodies were found Sunday in the ocean near the spot where an Air France jet is believed to have crashed a week ago, bringing the total number of bodies plucked from the water to five, Brazil’s military said. Authorities also said pilots searching the mid-Atlantic also spotted an undetermined number of additional bodies from the air and are sending ships to recover them, said Navy Capt. Giucemar Tabosa Cardoso.

Flight 447 disappeared in turbulent weather May 31 during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people aboard — all now presumed dead. The investigation is increasingly focused on whether external instruments may have iced over, confusing speed sensors and leading computers to set the plane’s speed too fast or slow — a potentially deadly mistake.

The French agency investigating the disaster said airspeed instruments on the plane had not been replaced as the maker had recommended, but cautioned that it was too early to draw conclusions about what role that may have played in the crash.

The agency, BEA, said the plane received inconsistent airspeed readings from different instruments as it struggled in a massive thunderstorm. In Brazil, Air Force Col. Henry Munhoz said he could not immediately provide information on how many more bodies were spotted from the air. Cardoso said late Sunday morning that ships should be able to recover some of them within hours despite rainy weather and poor visibility. None of the bodies recovered Sunday had documents with them to indicate their identities, and authorities did not specify their gender.

The first two bodies, found Saturday, were men. The bodies were found about 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the site where the jet sent out a burst of messages indicating it was experiencing a series of electric failures and losing cabin pressure. All the bodies have been recovered and spotted in the same general area. Authorities also announced that searchers spotted two airplane seats and other debris with Air France’s logo. They declined comment on the condition of the bodies that were recovered, saying the release of that information would be too emotionally painful for relatives.