Autopsies suggest Air France jet broke up in sky

With more than 400 bits of debris recovered from the ocean's surface, the top French investigator expressed optimism about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions ? far from land in very deep waters ? "one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation." "Typically, if you see intact bodies and multiple fractures ? arm, leg, hip fractures ? it's a good indicator of a midflight break up," said Frank Ciacco, a former forensic expert at the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. "Especially if you're seeing large pieces of aircraft as well." When a jet crashes into water mostly intact ? such as the Egypt Air plane that hit the Atlantic Ocean after taking off from New York in 1999 ? debris and bodies are generally broken into small pieces, Ciacco said. "When you've had impact in the water, there is a lot more fragmentation of the bodies. They hit the water with a higher force." Lack of burn evidence would not necessarily rule out an explosion, said John Goglia, a former member of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Searchers from Brazil, France, the United States and other countries are methodically scanning the surface and depths of the Atlantic for signs of the Airbus A330 that crashed May 31 after running into thunderstorms en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people aboard were killed. Still missing are the plane's flight data and voice recorders, thought to be deep under water. The French are leading the crash investigation, while the Brazilians are leading the rescue operation; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.