The BEA seems to be very unhappy and one can understand easily their reaction. To my knowledge this is the first time in its history that a communicate with such straightforward terms is published.
Since the beginning of the AF447 tragedy, "Le Figaro" has been one of the French media that always has been very well informed. I have realized that months ago and already asserted that, here, some days ago, just before the CVR retrieval. All their sources seem to be, as LF itself writes, very "close the investigation".
In one of its latest release LF indicates that their sources is closed to the "government" but not from the BEA investigation team. This is the first time that LF states the origin of its informations.
The fact that LF writes "government" indicates that someone there directly communicates to LF without the consent, or even the knowledge of the BEA.
LF being a newspaper it is not a shocking matter that their journalist(s) in charge of the case, try to obtain and publish the maximum of informations pertaining this affair. And they do it well.
Politically LF is a right hand newspaper or conservative one would say. There may have some privileged relationships between LF and the political sphere that could play some role and explain the "leaks". Who is the "insider" in the Government may stay a secret but it would tend to show that someone there is really in a hurry to establish the truth. Whatever the BEA says is not that important right now but as we say here "il n'y a pas de fumés sans feu" (there's no smoke without fire).
I was rather surprised how fast LF published its latest news (about the AFR responsibility) but still, even if the LF is not my cup of tea in a general way, I do trust their journalist for what they publish.
If the politics enters in scene we may interrogates ourself on a "struggle for influence" at he head of the ministry, to be the first to "unsheathe" and give a valuable information. Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, NKM, Minister for Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport and Housing (in addition she finds time to sleep) is the minister in charge. There is also a junior minister (secrétaire d'état) specifically in charge of Transports ; Mr Thierry Mariani whom we do not hear a lot. Hopefully himself knows him as a Minister.
NKM made the announcement that there was bodies still in good conditions and attached to their seats the day after she came back from Japan, where she went because of the Tsunami and radioactivities disasters. I saw her at the television making this announcement and she looked tired. There was not an absolute necessity to communicate so quickly and the information(s) could have been delayed for a while but it was unveiled right away. By her.
Either someone at the minister wants to be the first to give the information and "short circuit" someone else or , because the AF447 disaster is an international matter, officials in France want to have the "scoop" on some important announcements before it might filter abroad. There might be a political will to bypass the necessary slow technical investigation. Hence the LF informations that are making, by the way, a "buzz" here. AFR unions are not happy at all with these latest informations.
Another important matter is the present situation at Air France. Pierre-Henri Gourgeon (65), the CEO of Air France-KLM should be renewed tomorrow in its fonctions. If AFR is designated as the only and sole responsible of the crash, PHG might be led to resign to assume the responsibility in the name of the company. This last assumption is quite personal.