A private memorial service near Rio de Janeiro takes place on Saturday for the European and Brazilian families of the 228 people who died in the fated Air France 447 flight in June.
In today's edition: the former head of French espionage heaps pressure on Dominique de Villepin in the Clearstream trial; Air France pilots say the Paris-Rio crash could have been avoided; and France's first couple unveils its website.
Defective speed probes were responsible for the crash of Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic while it was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, a report by an Air France pilots' union - due to be handed to investigators this week - concludes.
Maarten van Sluys, executive director of Brazil’s AF447 Victims’ Families Association, suspects collusion between French investigators and manufacturers on the inquiry into the June 1 crash.
The head of the BEA air accident investigation agency has said the hunt for the black boxes of the Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic, killing 228, would resume in autumn with other countries invited to take part in the probe.
Christophe Guillot-Noël, whose brother Olivier died in the crash of Air France flight 447, says French authorities have not been open enough about the progress of the investigation.
Airbus is urging airlines to replace most of the "pitot probe" speed sensors on some 200 Airbus A330 and A340 planes in the wake of the crash of an Air France flight en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro on June 1.
Victims of the fatal plane crash last month did not die from drowning, French investigators said after post-mortems on their remains were carried out. AF 447 crashed in the middle of the Atlantic on its way from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on June 1.
Why Air France flight 447 crashed in the Atlantic between Brazil and West Africa with 228 people on board is still a mystery, but the French bureau leading the investigation said that the plane hit the ocean intact.
The Air France plane that crashed into the Atlantic with 228 people on board on June 1 did not break up mid-air but hit the water while accelerating sharply downward, France’s Office of Investigations and Analysis revealed Thursday.
