Brazil's government has confirmed that wreckage found in the Atlantic Ocean belongs to the Air France flight that disappeared shortly after take-off late Sunday. Brazilian crews are still searching the area for bodies of the passengers on board.
巴西政府证实，在大西洋发现的残骸来自星期天晚上起飞后不久失踪的法航飞机。巴西搜救人员仍然在那一区域寻找飞机上乘客的遗体。
Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said he no longer had any doubt that Air France flight 447 crashed off Brazil's coast. He said officials made the determination following the discovery of a strip of wreckage floating on the surface of the water some 1,300 kilometers off the Brazilian mainland.
巴西国防部长若宾说，他对法航447航班飞机在巴西沿海坠毁一事已不再有任何疑问。他说，在距离巴西大陆1千300公里的水域发现了漂浮在水面的残骸之后，有关官员做出最后判断。
Jobim said a military plane found the wreckage in a strip covering five kilometers of water, which confirms the plane went down in that area.
若宾说：“一架军用飞机发现一些残骸漂浮在一个长达5公里的水域，从而确认法航班机在那里坠毁。”
Brazilian officials said the debris included metal fragments, plane seats as well as a jet fuel slick. However, no bodies have been discovered from the plane carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members.
巴西官员说，发现的残骸包括金属碎片、飞机座椅以及飞机燃油的浮油，不过没有发现任何飞机上216名乘客和12名机组人员的遗体。
Jobim said the objective of military airplanes and ships in the area would be to recover those bodies.
若宾说，位于相关水域的军用飞机和舰只的目的是找到这些人的遗体。
Jobim said France's government had been advised that the search for bodies was underway, and that any French search personnel could join the Brazilian operation.
若宾说：“已经向法国政府通告了有关搜寻遗体的行动，任何法国搜救人员都可以参加巴西的搜寻努力。”
The defense minister added that flight recorders could be on the ocean floor, which he said was at a depth of at least 2,000 meters in the area of the crash.
巴西国防部长若宾还说，飞行记录器可能沉到海底。他说，坠机水域的海水深度至少有2千米。
Voice and flight data recorders are often crucial for investigators to understand how weather conditions or crew actions may have contributed to an air crash.
飞行语音和数据记录器通常对调查人员了解天气状况或机组人员行为是否导致飞机坠落至关重要。
Air traffic controllers say they received no unusual messages or distress calls from the crew of the Airbus 330 before it disappeared. Air France officials, however, said the aircraft's automated systems sent a series of messages about electrical problems to maintenance personnel. The airline said the plane had entered service in 2005, making it relatively new.
航空飞行管理人员说，他们在法航这架空中客车330飞机失踪之前没有收到机组人员发出的任何异常信号或呼救信号。不过，法国航空公司管理人员说，这架飞机的自动系统向维护人员发出一系列发生电路故障的信息。法航说，这架飞机2005年投入使用，属于相对比较新的飞机。 |