RECIFE: A French nuclear submarine has arrived at the scene of the Air France crash in the ocean off Brazil to start searching for the flight’s data recorders.

The “black boxes”, which emit a locator signal for about 30 days, could be up to 20,000-foot deep, on the bed of the Atlantic. They could provide vital clues as to why the Airbus A330 crashed on June 1. Brazilian air and sea searches have now recovered 41 bodies from the plane, which had 228 people on board. The submarine, and Brazilian naval and air forces, have a large and remote area of ocean to search.

Debris from the plane, which was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, has been found some 1,000 km north-east of the Fernando de Noronha islands. French military spokesman Captain Christophe Prazuck said the submarine — the Emeraude — should be able to cover an area of 26 sq km each day.

It has advanced radar equipment on board.