Fifteen more bodies found from Air France crash

RECIFE, Brazil: Further fifteen bodies have been recovered from the debris of an Air France jet that plunged into the Atlantic nearly a week ago, as investigators probe whether a defective speedometer caused the tragedy.Fifteen more bodies were snatched from the waves 1,150 kilometers (600 miles) off Brazil's northeastern coast on Sunday, when search teams battled "unfavorable" weather conditions to recover other bodies spotted floating among seats and other plane debris, Brazilian military officials said.Now, the number of dead bodies found so far has reached 17."Dozens of structural components" from the Airbus A330 were also picked up, air force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz told reporters in Recife, a coastal city in northeastern Brazil.The latest finds followed the recovery on Saturday of the first two bodies from Air France flight AF 447, which came down early June 1 with 228 people on board. The plane left from Rio de Janeiro to Paris a week ago, on May 31.The bodies were to be taken by ship to Brazil's Atlantic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha from where they would be flown to Recife for identification, Munhoz said.On Saturday, the bodies of two men were the first to be recovered by Brazilian navy personnel from the zone located 1,150 kilometers (715 miles) from Recife.The 15 others were taken from the water on Sunday by teams from a Brazilian frigate and a French navy ship involved in the operation.Of those 15 bodies, four were men and four were women. The gender of the others had not yet been determined.Police experts arrived on the island to carry out preliminary identification work and collect basic information, such as the state of the bodies and any clothing, according to air force spokesman Jorge Amaral.Earlier on Sunday Munhoz had said "some 100 objects" had been spotted in the crash zone, including other seats emblazoned with the Air France logo and oxygen masks.The black boxes from the plane have not yet been found. A French navy frigate on Sunday joined the search effort. Two French military aircraft were already flying with the 12 Brazilian air force planes at work in the area.Two French submarines, including one that explored the wreck of the Titanic and another, nuclear powered warship, were also on their way to hunt for the devices, which will stop transmitting their location in three weeks.With clues still being pieced together over the crash, speculation is focusing on its airspeed monitors.