Air France crash families to get $24,000

Air France said Friday it would give about euro17,500 ($24,000) as an advance to the families of the victims of the crash of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

Remains of some of the 228 dead, and hundreds of pieces of wreckage reclaimed from the sea off Brazil are helping experts build a picture of what happened to the Airbus A330.

But much hope still is pinned on the relentless international search for the plane's missing flight recorders, which should provide vital data. Air France chief executive Phillipe Gourgeon said that finding them was the essential objective now.

In an interview broadcast on RTL radio, Gourgeon also said, …