03 June,2009 08:24 AM IST | | AFP
France is to lead the investigation into the mysterious crash of an Air France airliner off Brazil's coast, Brazil's air force has said.
"The French government is in charge of the investigation of flight AF 447, through its investigation agency, the Bureau of Investigation and Analyses (BEA), with all necessary support from the Brazilian government and its Centre of Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA)," it said in a statement yesterday.
It added that a team of French investigators were already at work in Brazil with the help of the CENIPA. Defence Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters yesterday that the probe "to elucidate the circumstances" of the accident was being conducted by France because it was responsible for the Air France jet's registration.
Flight AF 447 came down around 1,000 kilometers off Brazil's northeast coast early Monday, when it was four hours into its 11-hour overnight voyage between Rio de Janeiro and Paris.
All 228 people on board, the majority of them French or Brazilian, are believed to have died.
