Fuel Spill Likely Rules Out Explosion In Air France Crash
Posted June 4, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Speculation about a bomb attack bringing down an Air France Airbus A330 on Sunday has been more or less laid to rest after search crews spotted large fuel stains in the Atlantic Ocean.
Brazilian Defence Minister Nelson Jobim said in a news conference that the 20-kilometre long oil spill about 1,100 km off Brazil’s northeast coast indicates the fuel did not burn. A helicopter recovered the first piece of wreckage on Thursday, and various other objects have been spotted in the area, including a large metallic object that could be part of the fuselage or tail.
Experts say extreme turbulence or decompression during stormy weather may have caused the plane, which was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, to break apart over the ocean with 228 people on board.
But French officials say they may never learn why the plane went down as the flight data and voice recorders – the so-called black boxes – may be lost at the bottom of the ocean if they even survived the impact.
France has dispatched a small submarine which can explore to a depth of 19,680 feet. Meanwhile, Brazil has mobilized 11 air force planes, four navy vessels with divers and a tanker for the retrieval operation. So far, no survivors have been found and authorities believe the recovery operation will be difficult.
President Nicolas Sarkozy attended a ceremony for relatives and friends of the victims at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Wednesday. A memorial mass will be held in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday.
There were 12 crew members and 216 passengers onboard Flight 447. One was a Canadian, 49-year-old Brad Clemes of Guelph, who is being remembered as a loving family man with a lot of good friends.
Clemes would have been back on board another plane if his flight had reached its destination. He was set to come back to Ontario this Saturday to celebrate his son’s graduation from Queen’s University.
Friends, relatives and authorities attend a mass to pay tribute to the victims of the ill-fated Air France flight 447 at the Candelaria Cathedral on June 4, 2009 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Vanderlei Almeida/AFP/Getty Images)
