Galley kitchen from doomed Air France flight discovered floating intact in middle of Atlantic

Floating in the middle of the Atlantic, this galley kitchen is the latest piece of Air France Flight 447 to be recovered by salvage crews.

The wreckage is extraordinarily intact despite being part of an plane that experts believe broke apart in midair. Even some of the drawers, containing a selection of ready-meals for passengers, remained wedged securely inside the unit

Autopsies on victims of Flight 447 and debris from the plane strongly suggest the plane broke up in the air, experts have said. Fractures in the legs, hips and arms of the Air France disaster victims recovered from the Atlantic suggest the Airbus broke up midfight. Brazil's navy have recovered 50 bodies from the 228 who perished during the flight bound for Pairs.

Investigators have also collected more than 400 bits of debris from the ocean's surface, including large pieces which have remained intact. Experts said this would also indicate the aircraft broke up in flight.

Last night. the top French investigator said he was optimistic about discovering what brought down Flight 447, but he also called the conditions - far from land in very deep waters - 'one of the worst situations ever known in an accident investigation.'

Paul-Louis Arslanian, who runs the French air accident investigation agency BEA, said added they were beginning to form 'an image that is progressively less fuzzy'.