Brazilian search crews recovered the vertical stabilizer from a crashed Air France plane in the open Atlantic Ocean, Brazil's military said Monday.

The discovery of debris may be a key item that could help find the cause of the crash of the Air France Flight 447, the Brazilian Air Force said.

Meanwhile, the military announced that they managed to retrieve eight more bodies of the airliner's passengers during the day, raising the total of recovered bodies to 24.

The bodies were found 440 km northeast of the Sao Pedro and Sao Paulo Islands, an area where the water depth reaches 3,500 meters.

The bodies have been taken to Brazilian ships, and will be transported to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the search crew's base of operation, said Lieutenant Colonel Henry Munhoz, spokesman for the Air Force.


Brazilian Navy spokesman Gilcemar Tabosa (L) and Brazilian Air Force officer Henry Nunhoz show a picture of a piece of debris from Air France flight AF447 retrieved by Brazilian sailors, during a press conference in Recife, Brazil, June 8, 2009. (Xinhua/Brazil News Agency)

The Air France Airbus A330 with 228 people on board vanished over the Atlantic Ocean last Monday after leaving Rio de Janeiro for Paris.

So far, 12 Brazilian planes, two French planes, one French ship and five Brazilian navy ships are searching the area some 1,100 km northeast of Brazil's coast.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday that the Brazilian government will do everything it can to find the bodies of all 228 occupants of the plane, which is very important to the victims' families.

Two French submarines, including one nuclear-powered, would arrive on Wednesday to search for the black box. The U.S. Navy will also send two high-tech devices to French ships to help locate the black box.

Source: Xinhua