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Bodies of 2 passengers spur Air France search
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-07 22:00

Bodies of 2 passengers spur Air France search
In this photo released by Brazil's Air Force, a Brazilian Navy ship, bottom left, approaches debris that Brazilian authorities believe are from Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean, Saturday, June 6, 2008. Searchers found two bodies and the first confirmed debris, a briefcase containing an Air France Flight 447 ticket, in the Atlantic Ocean near where the jetliner is believed to have crashed, according to Brazil's military. [Agencies]

The team will deliver the locators to two French tugs that will use them to listen for transmissions from the black box, the official said.

The bodies of two male passengers were found about 45 miles (70 kilometers) south of where the flight emitted its last signals — roughly 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil's northern coast.

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Brazilian air force spokesman Col. Jorge Amaral said an Air France ticket was found inside a leather briefcase, and the ticket number "corresponds to a passenger on the flight."

Admiral Edison Lawrence said the bodies were being transported to the Fernando de Noronha islands for identification. A backpack with a laptop and a vaccination card were also found, and officials were still trying to confirm whether a blue plane seat with a serial number on it belonged to Flight 447.

The discovery of the bodies and debris gave relief to some family members, many of whom gathered in a hotel in Rio, where they've received constant updates about the search.

Others, however, refused to give up on the chance for survivors.

"We're shaken, but we still have hope," Sonia Gagliano, whose grandson Lucas Gagliano was an air steward on the flight, told the O Globo newspaper. "He was a young boy, just 23 years old, and he spoke eight languages. I'm in a complete daze with all this."

On the investigation front, Airbus recommended that all its airline customers replace instruments that help measure speed and altitude, known as Pitot tubes, on the A330, the model used for Flight 447, said Paul-Louis Arslanian, the head of the BEA crash agency.

"They hadn't yet been replaced" on the plane that crashed, said Alain Bouillard, head of the French investigation.