Brazil's Air Force said Tuesday that search planes have spotted some signs of debris, including plane seats, that may be from the Air France jetliner carrying 228 people that disappeared in the Atlantic Ocean. But the air force isn't immediately confirming it is the lost jet.
Military pilots spotted two areas of floating debris about 35 miles apart, about 410 miles beyond the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, roughly along Flight 447's path from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, said Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral.
"The locations where the objects were found are toward the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted," Amaral said. "That suggests that it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha, but that is just a hypothesis."
Also spotted were small white pieces of debris, material that may be metallic, an orange buoy, a life jacket, and signs of oil and kerosene, which is used as jet fuel. No signs of life were found.
Brazilian ships are headed to the scene to collect the debris for closer examination, but are not expected to arrive until Wednesday. According to Brazilian TV, a radar plane detected some "electronic signs" in the area around 7 a.m. local time. A Hercules C-130 military plane then got a visual on the debris.
On Tuesday, two Americans on board the Air France flight were identified.
Anne DeBaillon Harris, 54, and Michael P. Harris, 60, are from a Houston suburb but were transferred to Rio for work in July, 2008. They were traveling to France for a training seminar, Ann's sister Mary Miley told KRIV.
Anne worked as a physical therapist for many years and Michael was a geologist for Devon Energy.
Also on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department confirmed that a third American, a female dual national was on board, but her identity was not immediately revealed.
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Tuesday, June 2, 2009
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