By Mark Memmott
The Air France flight that plunged into the Atlantic off the coast of Brazil on June 1 was in a high-speed, vertical plunge when it hit the water, French investigators say.
All 228 people on board were killed.
The lead investigator, Alain Bouillard, also said that it appears the plane's speed sensors were not the direct cause of the crash, the Associated Press reports.
The Airbus jet's black boxes have not yet been located. Investigators are basing their preliminary conclusions in part on wreckage that's been found and in part on automatic messages sent from the plane as it traveled.
The BBC is leading its report on the investigators' briefing with the news that they "believe it broke up on contact with the water, not in the air."
Sky News adds the detail that Bouillard "explained that flight 447 hit the water belly-first, but with a straighter descent than a more familiar diagonal landing."
An oxygen mask from the doomed flight. Mauricio Lima/AFP/Getty Images
categories: Accidents and Disasters
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