UPDATE: Brazil Govt confirms Air France debris
Published:Tuesday | June 2, 2009 | 5:55 PM
The Brazilian government has confirmed that debris spotted by planes in waters off Brazil’s coast belong to a missing French airliner.
Defence Minister Nelson Jobim says he has no doubt that the debris is wreckage from the Air France jet, which was carrying 228 passengers and crew.
He told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that a Brazilian search plane saw a band of wreckage along a 5-kilometre strip.
Flight AF 447 was heading from Rio to Paris when it disappeared about four hours into its flight.
Meanwhile, airline officials say 80 of the 228 passengers were Brazilians, 73 French, 18 Germans, nine Italians, six U.S. citizens, and the others citizens of 17 other countries.