Guyana fisherman finds possible debris from Air France crash; officials contact Brazil

September 14th, 2009 Brazil and Guyana inaugurate border bridgeGEORGETOWN, Guyana — The leader of Brazil and Guyana met Monday to inaugurate a border bridge that is expected to boost trade between the giant South American country and the Caribbean. The $5 million Takutu River Bridge, paid for by Brazil, opens a trade route between landlocked areas of the country's interior and Guyana, a nation on South America's northeastern shoulder that is more aligned with the Caribbean.

August 18th, 2009 Guyana police: Cabbie abandoned crash victim, 78GEORGETOWN, Guyana — A taxi driver allegedly hit a 78-year-old woman with his car and then dropped her off at home with a broken hip instead of seeking medical help, police in Guyana said Tuesday. Relatives of the victim told local news media she remained immobile for several days until someone found her.

August 14th, 2009 Brazil identifies last body in Air France crashSAO PAULO — Brazilian authorities say they have used DNA to identify the last body found from the Air France jet crash in the mid-Atlantic that killed 228 people. Officials say the 50th body recovered was that of a non-Brazilian man, but they have not revealed his nationality or his identity.

July 7th, 2009 Divers, investigators in Comoros search for planeNAIROBI, Kenya — A Comoran official says little debris and no bodies from the crashed Yemenia Airways plane have been found, but predicts that will change once the exact location of the plane's black boxes are pinpointed. One 12-year-old girl survived by clinging to floating debris for up to 13 hours after the June 30 plane crash, but 152 other passengers and crew are still missing from Flight 626.

July 1st, 2009 21 more victims of Air France crash identifiedRIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian officials say they've identified the remains of 21 more people who were aboard an Air France jet when it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean last month. Authorities say 17 newly identified victims were foreign and four were Brazilian.

June 27th, 2009 RIO DE JANEIRO - The Brazilian air force and navy have ended their search for survivors of Air France flight that crashed into the Atlantic nearly four weeks ago, officials announced Saturday. "The mission has been stopped, because it has become impossible to find bodies or debris in the search area," said Lt.

June 27th, 2009 Search ends for bodies from Air France crashSAO PAULO — Brazil has ended the search for more bodies from the Air France jet that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last month, calling the task "impossible," but the search for the jet's flight recorders will go on. Brazilian and French searchers have recovered large chunks of debris and 51 bodies from Air France Flight 447, which disappeared with 228 people on board late May 31.

June 19th, 2009 Air France crash families to get $24,000PARIS — Air France said Friday it would give about €17,500 ($24,000) as an advance to the families of the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Remains of some of the 228 dead, and hundreds of pieces of wreckage reclaimed from the sea off Brazil are helping experts build a picture of what happened to the Airbus A330.

June 19th, 2009 Air France crash families to get compensationPARIS — Air France said Friday it would give about euro17,500 ($24,000) as an advance to the families of the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. Remains of some of the 228 dead, and hundreds of pieces of wreckage reclaimed from the sea off Brazil are helping experts build a picture of what happened to the Airbus A330.

June 19th, 2009 Air France crash families to get 1st compensationPARIS — Air France focused on aiding families of victims from the crash of Flight 447, offering a first advance on compensation on Friday while investigators worked quietly to solve the mystery of what brought the jet down. The top European air safety agency said, meanwhile, there was not yet enough evidence to issue a mandatory recall of an external air speed monitor suspected of contributing to the disaster.

June 7th, 2009 Obama pledges support on Air France probeCAEN, France — President Barack Obama says the United States has authorized all of the government's resources to investigate an Air France plane that disappeared off the coast of South America. Obama told French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Saturday that Americans offer their thoughts and their prayers to the French, particularly those who lost family members in the suspected crash.

June 5th, 2009 RIO DE JANEIRO - None of the debris recovered during a search for the wreckage of an Air France Airbus 330 that went missing off Brazil's northeast coast belonged to the aircraft, Brazil's Air Force chief said. "We confirm that the objects are not from the wreckage of the plane...

June 3rd, 2009 French confirm sighting of Air France plane debrisFERNANDO DE NORONHA, Brazil — French officials say debris found in the Atlantic is that of missing Air France Flight 447. French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck says French military planes surveyed the remains initially spotted by Brazilian planes, and determined that the debris "corresponds to this plane." Prazuck says it is time to move to a "naval operation" to collect the remains and then "a submarine one" to try to find the plane's black boxes.

June 2nd, 2009 Debris possibly from Air France plane foundBRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil's Air Force says it has found airplane seats and other debris floating in the Atlantic Ocean along the path that a missing Air France jet was flying. Air Force spokesman Jorge Amaral says the seats were spotted by search planes early Tuesday morning but that authorities cannot immediately confirm they were from the plane.

June 1st, 2009 Timeline of disappearance of Air France jetTimeline of events surrounding the disappearance of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, according to Air France, Brazilian Air Force. All times in Brazilian local time: — 7:03 p.m.