As hope of finding survivors of the EgyptAir crash was officially abandoned by the US Coast Guard yesterday, a large piece of the plane's wreckage was recovered.
"We believe at this point it is in everyone's best interest to no longer expect we will find survivors," Rear Admiral Richard Larrabee said at a press conference. This means the death toll from the crash stands at 217 passengers and crew.
As the search for evidence has been stepped up, the admiral said that a "significant piece" of the aircraft was recovered. It was large enough to require a crane to lift it from the crash site, 60 miles south of Nantucket island.
Searchers also located a signal which is assumed to have come from one of the black boxes on the Boeing 767, which now lies in almost 300 feet of water.
One body has been found and what searchers call "evidence of further human remains". The search is being concentrated on a 36-mile square area. Worsening weather conditions are being forecast, which could hamper the search. The USS Grapple, with sophisticated diving and recovery equipment, is expected to arrive at the search site today. None of the debris so far recovered had burn marks, which could have indicated an explosion or fire, Admiral Larrabee said.
The list of passengers was released yesterday. It comprised 106 Americans, 62 Egyptians, 22 Canadians, three Syrians, two Sudanese and one Chilean.
Among the Egyptians nationals were 30 military officers, who had been on training exercises in the US. While there is no evidence of sabotage or criminal action in the crash, FBI agents are continuing to interview people who had access to the aircraft at Los Angeles, where the flight started, and at New York, where it stopped to refuel and pick up passengers.
Egyptian officials are co-operating with the FBI and the National Transportation Safety Board, which has overall charge of the investigation.
Officials are continuing to examine all radar records in the area of the crash for further clues as to what might have caused the plane to drop nearly 14,000 feet in only 36 seconds.
There is puzzling evidence that the rate of descent then slowed somewhat before the plane hit the water 90 seconds later.
Mr Hall would not say whether the radar records showed that the plane was breaking up before it plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.
President Clinton, in Oslo for a meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, has again warned the media not to jump to any conclusions. He and other US officials are mindful of what happened with the crash of a TWA jet off Long Island in July 1996 when it was widely assumed a bomb had caused it to explode within view of land. But after a lengthy investigation, it was concluded that the explosion was caused by an electrical spark in an empty fuel tank. 99£13£3427
Reuters adds: It also emerged yesterday that the EgyptAir 767 that crashed on Sunday came off the assembly line just before a Lauda Air 767 that crashed in Thailand eight years ago and that machinists assembling the planes at Boeing's Everett, Washington, plant had been working heavy overtime and complaining of workplace stress.