Brazilian air force on Tuesday announced that they have sent more planes and soldiers to Brazil's Fernando de Noronha archipelago in the Atlantic to search for the missing Air France airliner.

The Air France Flight 447, with 228 passengers on board, left Rio de Janeiro for Paris on Sunday at 7:00 PM (2200 GMT). The plane lost contact with the air control about three and half hours after its takeoff, when it was flying over the Atlantic, around 300 km northeast off Brazilian coastal city Natal.

The air force said at least 10 planes are ready and some supply planes also will join the search.

The military also said 100 soldiers, divided into three groups, were deployed on Monday in Brazilian military bases in Natal, coastal city Recife and Noronha archipelago.

Besides, the Brazilian navy sent five more ships on Tuesday afternoon, along with rescue equipment for possible survivors, to the sea area where the debris was found by the air force earlier in the day.

On Tuesday the debris was found at the open ocean in the mid-Atlantic, about 400 miles (640 km) northeast of Brazil's Fernando de Noronha archipelago, Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said.

Pieces of white debris scattered over five km, which, according to the minister, showed that the plane crashed at that site.

After the plane went missing, the Brazilian military has already sent three planes, two helicopters and three ships to search for possible survivors.

(Xinhua News Agency June 3, 2009)