Bodies Found from Air France Flight; Cause of Crash Remains a Mystery

It's a small consolation, but the families of two victims of last Sunday's crash of Air France flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris will at least have some closure, as searchers announced they had recovered two bodies from the otherwise scarce wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean. The BBC reported Saturday afternoon that two male bodies had been found, along with objects linked to passengers known to be on the flight, including a leather briefcase with a ticket for the flight inside. The bodies and objects were found several hundred kilometers off Brazil's northern coast, not far from where the flight emitted its last signals.

The find comes after the disappointing revelation on Friday that earlier pieces of wreckage thought to be from the plane were actually just trash, dampening hopes that searchers would ever discover the doomed flight's whereabouts. The plane's black boxes are still missing, and a fleet of airplanes, ships, and two submarines are combing the waters for further clues.

While it's still a mystery as to why the plane went down carrying 228 people, some reports are indicating that technical problems regarding airspeed indicators could have been a factor. High winds and stormy weather may have also played a part, but at least twelve other airplanes flew a similar route to the Air France plane that day and didn't report any weather-related problems.

Of course, air travel is still just about the safest way to get around, but accidents like this cause a fear that just can't be put into perspective with safety statistics. Until the fatality rate falls to zero, everybody will have a worst case scenario somewhere in the back of their minds as they take to the skies.

Related Stories:
· Bodies Found from Missing Plane [BBC News]
· 12 Similar Flights Deepen Air France 447 Mystery [CNN]
· Air France Black Box Seeking Sub is Titanic Veteran [Bloomberg]
· Flight 447 Coverage [Jaunted]

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