Air France Flight 447 Update: New Details, Strange Debris Found

These indicate that the pilot reported hitting tropical turbulence at 3am (BST), shortly before reaching Senegalese airspace. It said the plane had passed through tall, dense cumulonimbus thunderclouds.

At this stage, according to a source close to the investigation cited by Le Monde, the Airbus A330-200's speed was "erroneous" - either too fast or too slow. Each plane has an optimal speed when passing through difficult weather conditions, which for unknown reasons, had not been reached by flight AF 447.

Airbus is expected to issue recommendations today to all operators of the A330 model to maintain appropriate thrust levels to steady the plane's flight path in storms.

"Up to now, no material from the plane has been recovered," Brigadier Ramon Cardoso, director of Brazilian air traffic control, told reporters in the north-eastern city of Recife.

He said items pulled from the ocean on Thursday and originally thought to come from downed Air France flight AF 477 actually came from another source, likely a ship.

He also said a big oil slick originally thought to come from the plane probably also came from a ship, though fuel slicks detected were likely from the jet because the fuel was of a type not used by seagoing vessels.

Earlier on Thursday, Cardoso had told reporters that navy ships 1000 kilometres off Brazil's shore had pulled aboard debris from the Air France plane that vanished on Monday, including a pallet from its cargo hold and two buoys.

"Up to now, no material from the plane has been recovered," Brigadier Ramon Cardoso, director of Brazilian air traffic control, told reporters in the north-eastern city of Recife.

He said items pulled from the ocean on Thursday and originally thought to come from downed Air France flight AF 477 actually came from another source, likely a ship.

He also said a big oil slick originally thought to come from the plane probably also came from a ship, though fuel slicks detected were likely from the jet because the fuel was of a type not used by seagoing vessels.

Earlier on Thursday, Cardoso had told reporters that navy ships 1000 kilometres off Brazil's shore had pulled aboard debris from the Air France plane that vanished on Monday, including a pallet from its cargo hold and two buoys.

But after inspection it was determined the pallet could not have come from the plane.

"We confirm that the pallet found is not part of the debris of the plane. It's a pallet that was in the area, but considered more to be trash," he said.