A handout picture shows an Air Force pilot searching for debris of the Air France flight 447 over the Atlantic Ocean. -- PHOTO: AFP
PARIS - A PROBE into the crash of an Air France jet in the Atlantic has shown that speeds measured by the plane's instruments were inconsistent, the French air safety investigation agency said on Friday.
Automatic messages sent by the plane before it disappeared on Monday with 228 people on board revealed an 'inconsistency in the different speeds measured,' the Office of Inquiries and Analysis (BEA) said in a statement.
The plane has several devices that measure speed but the data sent by them differed, a spokeswoman added.
Air France chief executive Pierre-Henry Gourgeon earlier this week said that just before the plane vanished it had sent out a succession of automatic messages showing 'multiple technical failures.'
The probe has also confirmed that the plane was flying near a fierce thunder storm when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, the BEA said Friday.
The mystery surrounding the crash has deepened after Brazilian officials said items pulled from the sea were not debris from the downed Airbus, which remains missing midway between Brazil and the African coastline. -- AFP
