For those who aren't up with underwater recovery ability, the recovery of the remains of AF-447, is most certainly within the realms of possibility.
Bluewater Recoveries have an outstanding record of shipwreck and treasure recovery - aircraft wreckage recovery is only a slight shift in their capabilities.
These people have engineered recovery vessels capable of locating and lifting 200 tons from 6000 metres .. and they have carried out projects whereby long-lost wrecks have been found, and large tonnages have been lifted from great depths in the ocean.
All the initial indications are, that the greatest depth that the remains of AF-447 are at, is around 3850 metres. It's more likely that the actual position is around 3250-3500 metres - quite within the abilities of the BR Company.
Admittedly, many shipwrecks left a decent paper trail to allow some narrowing of the search. A lot didn't, and they were still found by David Mearns and his skilled helpers (HMAS Sydney comes to mind).
AF-447 left some surface wreckage that helps pinpoint the area - Mearns and his associates have all the necessary equipment, to allow further target area narrowing, and searching with robot submarine vehicles at vast depths. All that's needed is the money.
This should be a French-Govt-initiated search, with additional financial assistance from other nations involved in pax losses. The amount required to find the important larger remnants of AF-447 appears to possibly be in the order of US$5-10M. This is piggy-bank money to Govts and nations, particularly when you see what they waste on other fruitless projects.
The Australian Federal Govt, in combination with Australian State Govts, easily found AU$4M to pay Mearns' company to find the Australian WW2 Hospital ship, the Centaur.
Mearns found the wreckage of the Centaur with ease - just as he found the wreck of the HMAS Sydney - a vessel whose location was argued and tossed about, for nearly 67 years. Many wild theories were bandied about as regards the loss and location of the HMAS Sydney, too.
I think I'd be pretty safe in saying, that if the funding was found for Mr Mearns and his operatives, they would relish the chance to find the remains of AF-447 and raise it.
This needs to be done, to put to bed, once and for all, the endless pontification, the endless rumours and finger pointing, and to define the precise reasons for the loss of AF-447. These Govts of the nations involved, as well as Air France, owe this much to those unfortunates who perished in what appears to have been believed to be (by aircraft design people) a nearly impossible event.
Bluewater Recoveries -
Blue Water Recoveries are a deep sea shipwreck recovery company