The Airbus A330 of Air France Flight 447 plunged vertically into the Atlantic Ocean but did not break up in the air, said the BEA accident investigation agency on Thursday when it released its first report on the June 1 crash.

The agency added that the faults of the speed sensors were not the cause of the crash.

"The plane was not destroyed in mid-air," said Alain Bouillard of the BEA during a news conference at BEA headquarters outside Paris.

"The plane appears to have hit the surface of the water in flying position with a strong vertical acceleration," he noted, adding that the plane's belly hit the water first.

After one month of probe into the crash, investigators also found the faults of speed sensors on Airbus A330 were "a factor but not the cause."

"It's one of the factors but not the only one," said Bouillard.

The crash of the Air France flight into the Atlantic en route from Rio de Janeiro of Brazil to Paris on June 1 was the worst accident in the airline's history. The disaster claimed the lives of all 228 people from 32 different countries on board.

"We are still some distance away from establishing the causes of the accident," said Bouillard.

According to the BEA, the search for the flight recorders will continue until July 10.

(Xinhua News Agency July 3, 2009)