Originally Posted by
RuudA
The Brazilian Air Force released information on 9 June showing that bodies from flight af447 had been recovered from locations that were more than 50 miles apart..
. . can also be explained by the influence of the surface current: the Northern South Equatorial Current (NSEC).
This NSEC current is a westward flowing current that extends from the surface to a nominal depth of 100 m.
As I tried to post before, but it was deleted, the surface current moderated by the wind, will account for a significant distance between the point that debris entered the current and the point at which it was found.
The significant point in RuudA's post is
surface. Debris is more likely to be released from the wreckage as the aircraft descends and breaks up at depth. Such debris will be affected by sub-surface currents until such time as it rises to the surface current zone.
There is no guarantee that all sub-surface release will occur at the same time or the same depth. It is as likely that the debris spread is from sub-surface release as from an airborne breakup.
PS, I believe this post-crash surfacing of debris was a feature of a RNlN Atlantic aircraft about 30 years ago.