Air France flight 447 victims' families to be compensated

Speaking to the French RTL radio Gourgeon said, "For now we are going to concentrate on the first advance that will be paid for each victim, approximately 17,500 euros (£15,000 / $24,400).

"The lawyers of our insurers in every country are talking to the victims' families to try and organise this advance payment,"

Gourgeon said that the payments were made as a gesture of compassion for the families who faced the tragedy of losing their loved ones and Air France does not admit any liability for the crash of the flight 447.

The flight 447 carried passengers from 32 nations. The nationalitiesinclude 61 French, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, 9 Chinese, 9 Italians, 6 Swiss, 5 British, 5 Lebanese, 4 Hungarians, 3 Irish, 3 Norwegians, 3 Slovaks, 2 Americans, 2 Moroccans, and individuals from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Demark, the Netherlands, Estonia, the Philippines, The Gambia, Iceland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey.

FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE AIR FRANCE CRASH CLICK HERE

Gourgeon echoed a similar opinion to the Investigators who said the cause is not yet known but the investigation is slowing progressing towards identifying the cause.

Speaking in the press conference on Tuesday, the director of the French body leading the investigation, Paul-Louis Arslanian pleaded for patience as the investigation team studies the gathered material and evidence to find the exact cause of the crash.

The search and recovery operations have recovered around 400 pieces of debris. The recovered objects include seats, passenger baggage, flight tail fin or vertical stabiliser, galley kitchen amongst others.

The search for the passenger's bodies has led to 50 bodies being recovered from the Atlantic Ocean. The autopsy results so far strongly suggest that the plane broke up mid air.

The search is continuing for the black box of the plane and if found will provide crucial details that can help solve the mystery behind the crash.

Honeywell, the manufacturer of the black box used in the Airbus A330 that crashed, were hopeful that it can be recovered. Speaking to CNN Honeywell Aerospace's Paolo Carmassi said, "We have a 100 percent recovery rate of all the black boxes that we have installed".