The Brazilian Air Force yesterday contradicted earlier reports that the wreck of Air France 447 – which crashed earlier this week – had been found and it is now saying that material found floating in

the Atlantic off the coast of Recife does not belong to the airliner.

The news follows the announcement by Air France and the Brazilian authorities that there is now no chance of finding any survivors from the Airbus A330 which was carrying 228 passengers and crew onboard.

In Rio de Janeiro this week, hundreds gathered to pay their respects to relatives and those who lost their lives and there was a special memorial service attended by both French and Brazilian foreign ministers – at the same time as three days of mourning approached its end.

Meanwhile, Brazilian navy vessels are continuing to search an area of approximately 1,100km north-east of Brazil's coast, along with other ships that are assisting, but experts have warned that the prospect of finding the aircraft's black box flight recorder now look slim.

Based on this statement, it would seem to be a safe bet that the aircraft's two locator beacons have almost certainly been destroyed or damaged beyond function in the crash – for which there is still no explanation.