Debris spotted in aircraft search
Brazil's Air Force said it has found aeroplane seats and other debris floating in the Atlantic Ocean along the path that a missing Air France jet was flying.
Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral said the seats were spotted by search planes early on Tuesday morning but that authorities could not immediately confirm they were from the plane.
Also spotted were small white pieces of debris, material that may be metallic and signs of oil and kerosene, which is used as jet fuel.
The debris was found about 390 miles north-east of the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
Earlier, it was announced an 11-year-old prep school pupil was among the five Britons on the airliner. Alexander Bjoroy, who attended Clifton College preparatory school in Bristol, was one of 228 people aboard the missing Air France Airbus A330.
Oil worker Graham Gardner, 52, from Gourock, Renfrewshire, was among the passengers, his employers said. Three Irish women, all in their 20s, were also on the plane, which had 12 crew. The 216 passengers included a baby and seven children.
One of the British passengers on the flight is believed to be Arthur Coakley, from near Whitby, North Yorkshire. His wife Patricia broke down in tears as she described the devastating impact that the loss of the 61-year-old had had on their family.
The Irish women on the plane were named locally as Aisling Butler, of Roscrea, Co Tipperary, Jane Deasy, of Dublin, and Eithne Walls, originally from Belfast.
The aircraft had run into stormy weather with strong turbulence around four hours into the flight which had left Rio at around 11pm UK time on Sunday.
About 15 minutes after the turbulence message, an automatic message was received from the plane - AF447 - indicating a failure in the electrical circuit.
