The victims are telling a story, as they will. Those recovered on the surface have been identified, and returned to family. Those on the bottom have more to tell. Where were they seated? What injuries have they that will describe 447's path downward? What of the final inventory of these souls?
To abandon them on the bottom may be out of concern for the families, if so, that is laudible, but not proper. The proper thing to do is to recover remains to the surface. If a family member of mine, I would lobby and spend unto bankruptcy to retrieve my loved one(s). If possible, this recovery must be done to preserve the victim, money is NOT an excuse to abandon them.
Do NOT forget the victims who were not recovered on the surface, it is certain they did not retrieve all the floating victims.
INVENTORY. Perhaps photographically, an inventory of victims has been done, and mapped.
An INVENTORY of the pieces found in this debris field must be subtracted from a total at launch, to determine how much is missing from the complete plane. This will also have bearing on "Intact at Impact".
The debris in this location is all heavy. Is there no more debris West of this location?? Lighter things??
Define INTACT. At what distance from the primary location are these things??
All we know, and may ever know, even if the machines tell us everything they know, is that the CORE of the a/c's airframe was present at impact. Was it missing many things at impact that point to a disintegration prior??
DISINTEGRATION, a coming apart, does NOT mean complete. On a scale of degradation, I believe it virtually certain that some pieces were lost prior to impact, but this is an OPINION. ACARS does not report as if it has a virtual and complete result of an airborne "Walkaround".
bear