A three-mile path of wreckage found in the Atlantic is confirmation that an Air France jet crashed in the ocean, Brazilian Defence Minister Nelson Jobim has said.
Mr Jobim said discovery of the debris by Brazilian military pilots "confirms that the plane went down in that area" hundreds of kilometres from the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
The debris was found about 390 miles north-east of the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.
Earlier, it was announced an 11-year-old prep school pupil was among the five Britons on the airliner. Alexander Bjoroy, who attended Clifton College preparatory school in Bristol, was one of 228 people aboard the missing Air France Airbus A330.
Passengers also included oil worker Graham Gardner, 52, from Gourock, Renfrewshire, and Dr Jose Souza, who worked at the Reading Orthodontic Centre.
One of the British passengers on the flight is believed to be Arthur Coakley, from near Whitby, North Yorkshire. His wife Patricia broke down in tears as she described the devastating impact that the loss of the 61-year-old had had on their family.
The aircraft had run into stormy weather with strong turbulence around four hours into the flight which had left Rio at around 11pm UK time on Sunday.
About 15 minutes after the turbulence message, an automatic message was received from the plane - AF447 - indicating a failure in the electrical circuit.
