Guide to Air France 447: Facts, Rumors and Where Things Stand

June 12, 2009 — -- A plane carrying 228 people falls out of the sky in the middle of the night hundreds of miles out to sea.

It's a major puzzle that will take months and months to piece together. It's a massive search effort in a remote location. Virtually no hypothesis or theory about what happened is off the table.

In this relatively early phase of the investigation into what happened on Air France Flight 447, here's a look at where things stand.

Hunting for black boxes: T minus 18 days. The pinging sounds coming from the black boxes are estimated to last 30 days from the time of the crash, so the clock is ticking.

Debris and remains: Crash remnants already pulled out of the Atlantic have been flown to the island of Fernando de Noronha, the closest land to the crash site, some 400 miles off Brazil's coast.

How long the search will last: At least until June 19, according to the Brazilian Air Force.

Assessing the plane's automated messages: Out of the water, investigators are gleaning clues from the 24 automated messages sent from the plane to Air France over a period of four minutes before it crashed.

See ABC News photo gallery of the search effort here.

Watch ABC News Video on the Crash:
Air France Crash Questions Sensor Safety (June 9, 2009)
Search Intensifies for Black Boxes (June 8, 2009)
Plane Disappears Off Radar (June 1, 2009)

Read ABC News Stories on the Crash:
French Sub Joins Black Box Search (June 10, 2009)
Carriers Rush to Replace Speed Sensors (June 9, 2009)
Jet's Tail Could Lead to Answers (June 8, 2009)
Air France Official: 'We Can Fear The Worst' (June 1, 2009)

Lawmakers Examine Airline Safety (June 10, 2009)
Capt. Sully Sullenberger Recounts Landing on Hudson River (June 9, 2009)
Regional Airlines Under Scrutiny (May 14, 2009)
The Black Holes of Plane Crashes (June 4, 2009)
Fear of Flying Causes Families to Split Flights (June 4, 2009)