After weeks of searching and 51 bodies found, the Brazilian military has called off the search for Air France Flight 447, which crashed over the Atlantic on June 1, 2009. All 228 people on board died.

600 pieces of wreckage was also found during the search. How the plane actually went down remains a mystery. Even though several ships, Brazilian, American, French, and Dutch; search for the plane’s blackbox data and sound recorder, it has not been found.

Relatives and friends mourn Lucas Gagliano, who died when Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic on June 1, during his funeral in Rio de Janeiro June 25, 2009.

REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

The blackbox would contain the answer as to how the plane exactly went down. It emits a specific radar, but after 2 weeks that signal is lost or greatly weakens. The chances of finding such a box at the bottom of very deep waters were always slim, that hope is even more remote now.

Without the blackbox, people will only be able to speculate with varying degrees of accuracy. Most analysts believe that the plane’s wing data was transmitting faulty information. This lead to the pilots to fly at speeds which are dangerous during a storm during which a plane can easily break apart.

Given the distances away many plane parts were found, aviation experts believe the plane broke up while still in the air.

Whether anything definitive will ever be known, one thing is certain: the families of the lost and the world will forever remember the 228 souls lost that sad day.

Source: Brazil calls off search for Air France victims