Air France announced on Friday that it will pay about 17,500 euros (about US$24,000) as an initial compensation to the families of the victims of the Flight 447 air crash on June 1.

"We are going to be very focused on a first advance that will be paid out to each victim about 17,500 euros," Air France Chief Executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said on RTL radio.

According to Gougeon, Air France's lawyers are in contact in many different countries with the victims' families about this advance payment.

He added that the airline was also considering organizing a memorial for all the victims.

The Air France A330 Flight 447 airliner with 228 people on board crashed into the Atlantic on June 1 while heading to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. Passengers from 32 nationalities were all killed. Among 228 people on board, only 50 bodies have been recovered so far.

The cause of the disaster still remained unknown. Investigators said the plane's speed sensors gave conflicting readings to the computers, which caused the plane to stall or fly dangerously fast. However, neither Air France nor Airbus has confirmed that the speed sensors linked with the crash.

(Xinhua News Agency June 20, 2009)