Air France crash confirmed

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Brazil has confirmed that a 5-kilometer path of wreckage found in the Atlantic Ocean belongs to Air France Flight 447.

The Airbus 330 vanished on Monday on way from Brazil to France, three hours into its flight. There were 228 people, including 12 crew members on board.

Brazilian defense minister confirmed the news, saying the strip of wreckage included metallic and nonmetallic pieces.

Nelson Jobim, Brazilian Defense Minister, said, "Our military plane found this strip of about 5 kilometers of debris, which confirms that the airplane crashed in that area, hundred of kilometers from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha."

Jobim said recovery of the plane's cockpit voice and data recorders could be difficult because of the depth of the ocean where the debris was found.

Earlier, Brazil's Air Force said its military aircraft spotted wreckage at two distant points, located about sixty kilometers apart from each other. Among the signs of wreckage -- an airplane seat, an orange floating device and traces of oil and kerosene.

The Brazilian military says there is still no way to determine if the plane blew up and there is also no news of survivors.

Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim holds a diagram of the crash area during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro June 2, 2009.  REUTERS/Fernando Soutello-AGIF

No bodies have been spotted in the crash area, in which all 228 passengers and crew are believed to have died.

French police are studying passenger lists and maintenance records, and preparing to take DNA from passengers' relatives to help identify any bodies.

If there are no survivors, as feared, the crash would be the world's worst aviation disaster since 2001.