Several commercial line pilots who flew over the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday reported having seen more debris on the area where the missing Air France Flight 447 is believed to have crashed, according to local daily Folha deSao Paulo.

The items were first spotted on early Tuesday by Brazilian Air Force planes, 650 kilometers away from the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. Despite the fact that a plane seat was reportedly among the debris, authorities stated that it cannot be said yet that the items are in any way related to the missing plane.

The debris will be collected on Wednesday morning, when the first Brazilian Navy ships are scheduled to reach the area. They may also be taken from the sea by mercantile ships which were close to the site and were asked to help in the search efforts.

Three mercantile ships, two Dutch and one French, have already reached the large area delimited by the Brazilian authorities, but have yet to spot any debris. After the items are collected, they will be subjected to an analysis to determine if they belonged to the missing Airbus.

The possibility of finding survivors of the Air France Flight 447 is very remote, according to experts. The plane, which left Rio on Sunday evening and headed to Paris, carried 228 occupants, including eight children; its last contact with the air control authorities was on late Sunday, as it passed over the Fernando de Noronha archipelago.

It is not known yet what caused the disappearance of the Airbus A 330. Authorities hope to find the plane's flight recorders in order to explain the incident.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)