Special Report: Air France airliner crashes

    BEIJING, June 5 -- French officials said Wednesday that there was no hope to find the flight data and voice recorders, the black boxes, of the missing Air France airliner that plunged into the Atlantic.

Staff members of Air France mourn for the 216 passengers and 12 crew members aboard the missing Airbus A330 during a memorial ceremony in front of Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, capital of France, on June 3, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei) Photo Gallery>>>

    Speaking at the first news conference since the incident of the Air France flight AF447 from Rio to Paris Monday, Paul-Louis Arslanian, director of France's air safety investigation agency, said he was "not optimistic" that the black box will be found from the "deep and mountainous" place under the sea.

    Soundbite: Paul-Louis Arslanian, director of France's air safety investigation agency “The air crush is the most severe one in Air France’s history. The formidable natural conditions made the search more difficult.”

    After the studies on the plane's maintenance and other records, no evidence showed that the plane had problems before takeoff, said Arslanian. The agency is expected to have an initial report into the disaster ready by the end of June.

    Air France Airbus A330 flight AF447 with 228 people on board from Rio to Paris went missing over the Atlantic Monday. No mayday call was received from the plane, but the plane sent a series of automated messages reporting electric failures. The black box of the Airbus A330 was may be under the water as deep as 6000 meters (19,700 feet).

    The black box, which contain voice and data recorders, is built to last 30 days at about 6,000 meters underwater.

    The plane of Brazilian Air Force which identified the debris, an Embraer R-99 model, has not spotted any bodies, but according to the Air Force's spokesman, Colonel Jorge Amaral, the authorities are still working with the possibility of finding survivors of the accident.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Paris. (XHTV)