AVIATION/ VICTIM REMAINS FROM AIR FRANCE FL447 ARRIVE IN PARIS

The remains of 104 of the 228 passengers and crew killed when AIR FRANCE Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, leaving no survivors, have arrived in France. The salvage ship Ile-de-Sein, picutured above, carrying 3 containers of wreckage and a 4th bearing human remains from the ocean bed docked in the south-western port of Bayonne. The harbor was closed off by the authorities out of respect for bereaved families and friends. 51 were found just after the crash but others remain missing. Flight 447 went down on after running into an intense high-altitude thunderstorm, 4 hours into a flight from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to the French capital Paris. The Airbus 330 plane stalled and fell out of the sky in 3.5 minutes, the French BEA said in a Technical Report late last month While the causes of the crash are still being investigated, one theory being pursued is that the Airbus A330s pitot tubes failed. The data from the FDR hasraised questions over the way the crew handled the plane when the "stall alarm" was sounded. Air France, however, insists its Pilots "demonstrated a totally professional attitude". The main wreckage of the plane was only discovered in April after a search of 3860 sq miles of sea floor. A brief ceremony was held in the port before the bodies were removed to Paris for DNA identification, while the containers containing wreckage were to be sent to the city of Toulouse for analysis. Those on board the jet came from more than 30 countries, though most were French, Brazilian or German. The identification process is likely to be lengthy as investigators will have to collect "ante mortem" information on each victim, from when they were alive, to compare it to evidence retrieved from their dead bodies. It took around 2 months to identify the victims retrieved from the surface of the ocean just after the crash.

THE FINAL MINUTES OF AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 447
1. 0135 GMT: The crew informs the controller of the flight's location
2. 0159-0206 GMT: The Co-Pilot warns of turbulence ahead before the Captain leaves the cockpit for a rest break
3. 0208 GMT: The plane turns left, diverting from the planned route. Turbulence increases
4. 0210 GMT: The auto-pilot and auto-thrust mechanisms disengage. The plane rolls to the right. The Co-Pilot attempts to raise the nose. The stall warning sounds twice and the plane's speed drops. The Co-Pilot calls the Captain
5. 0210 GMT: The stall warning sounds again. The plane climbs to 38000ft
6. 0211-0213 GMT: The Captain re-enters the cockpit. The plane is flying at 35000 ft but is descending 10000 ft per minute. The Co-Pilot says "I don't have any more indications", pulls the nose down and the stall warning sounds again
After location 6. 02:14 GMT: Recordings stop
(MAP AND TIMELINE PROVIDED BY BEA)