Debris found where Air France flight vanished over Atlantic

A search aircraft on Tuesday found a seat and other debris from a plane in a remote stretch of the Atlantic where an Air France flight carrying 228 people disappeared, Brazil's air force said.

The "small remains" were discovered around 1,100 kilometers off northeastern Brazil, some 650 kilometers northeast of Brazil's Atlantic island of Fernando do Noronha.

The items included a seat from a plane, bits of white material, an orange buoy, a barrel and some oil and kerosene slicks, grouped in two floating patches 60 kilometers apart, according to an air force statement.

It could not immediately be confirmed that the debris was from Air France flight AF 447, the spokesman, Colonel Jorge Amaral, said.

There were no signs of survivors, he said.

"The search is continuing because it's very little material in relation to the size" of the Air France Airbus A330, he said.

He added that officials needed "a piece that might have a serial number, some sort of identification" to be sure that it came from the missing airliner.

However the items were found near where the Air France plane sent its final message: an automatic data signal telling of multiple electric and pressurisation failures.

Air France flight AF 447 disappeared mid-Atlantic on Monday, four hours into an 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.