French locate third body after Airbus crash

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-02 11:37

PERPIGNAN, France -- Search teams on Monday found a third body following the crash of an Airbus A320 passenger jet off France's southern coast, bringing the official death toll up to three and leaving four others missing and feared dead, a French official said.

Divers pulled up the remains around midday Monday while searching for the full wreckage of the jet, state prosecutor Jean-Pierre Dreno said in the southern city of Perpignan near the border with Spain. The plane was on a maintenance flight when it plunged into the Mediterranean on Thursday.

The plane had been leased to charter airline XL Airways Germany and was on the maintenance flight before being returned to Air New Zealand.

The crew included two German pilots, and a pilot and three engineers from Air New Zealand, plus an aircraft inspector from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority.

French authorities on Monday opened a preliminary probe into manslaughter.

Air New Zealand said in a statement the two flight recorders recovered from the crash site over the weekend were so badly damaged they have to be sent to the manufacturer, Honeywell, in the United States to see if any data can be extracted from them.