Robots Find Many of the Missing Bodies Amid Wreckage of Air France Flight 447

April 4, 2011 — -- Bodies from Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean almost two years ago, have been found by aquatic robots, and will be brought to the surface within a month, officials said.

"We have bodies ... there are bodies that are still in the parts that have been found," Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, minister Minister of ecology, sustainable development, transport and housing for France, told Radio France Monday.

Of the 228 people onboard who perished, 177 bodies are still missing. Fifty-one bodies were recovered in the days following the May 31, 2009, crash, which occurred shortly after Flight 447 took off from Rio de Janeiro en route to Paris.

"It is impossible to tell you … the exact number of bodies we have down there," said Alain Bouillard, the chief investigator in charge of France's aviation accident investigation agency, or BEA. "As we've said before, the priority are the black boxes. We can only be happy that at this stage, two years after this accident, we have hope. The desperate need to understand may potentially be answered."

Most of the passengers were Brazilian, French and German. An American couple, Anne and Michael Harris, who were living in Brazil and have family in Louisiana, were also onboard. Michael Harris, 60, was a geologist in Rio de Janeiro. He worked for Devon Energy, a U.S.-based independent natural gas and oil producer.

After takeoff, the Airbus A330 jetliner began to experience electrical problems and read the plane's speed incorrectly. Several hours later, the plane could no longer be spotted on radar. It plunged into the ocean, with most of the fuselage still intact.

Investigators hope to find the plane's two black box flight recorders, which would help them piece together what caused the crash.

A French magistrate recently began investigating Airbus and Air France to see if the companies should be charged with involuntary manslaughter. Judge Sylvie Zimmerman is overseeing the probe. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, both the airline and the airplane manufacturer could face criminal charges.