Searchers spot more debris from Air France plane

The additional debris was spotted close to the zone where most of the 49 bodies so far recovered have been pulled from the water, air force spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz told reporters in the northeastern city of Recife.

He added that days of bad weather over the area around 1,000 kilometers off Brazil's coast had passed, allowing military search flights to resume.

A Brazilian frigate was expected to arrive early today at the Atlantic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha carrying the last six bodies found, hauled up by the crew of a French navy ship assisting a small Brazilian flotilla.

Munhoz said no date had been set for an end to the search operation, but that it would be re-evaluated every two days from June 17.

Currents carrying parts of the plane and the deterioration in the condition of the human remains were making the task increasingly difficult.

A French submarine and tugs towing US underwater listening gear were sweeping the area for signals from the plane's black boxes.