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Air crash families mourn relatives

From CNN Correspondents Chris Burns and Sandy Petrykowski

Relatives of the French victims arrive in Egypt for a religious service on land and a ceremony at sea.
Relatives of the French victims arrive in Egypt for a religious service on land and a ceremony at sea.

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Recovery crafts continue to search the Red Sea crash site.
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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- Memorial services have been held for the victims of last weekend's crash of an Egyptian charter jet that went down in the Red Sea.

Families of the French victims gathered at the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheik on Thursday, for the two services -- one on land and one at sea near the actual crash site.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before attending the ceremonies.

The Flash Airlines Boeing 737 flight crashed shortly after take-off from Sharm el-Sheik on Saturday, killing all 148 aboard, including 135 French tourists and 13 Egyptian crew.

Four of the passengers had dual U.S.-French citizenship.

While French naval teams have located the second flight data recorder from the wreckage, they said on Wednesday it could be weeks before the "black boxes," are retrieved because of the depth of the water the plane is lying in.

The data on the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder could help explain what caused Saturday's crash.

Both recorders sent signals to the search teams, indicating that they are about a half mile (800 meters) underwater and about 1,000 feet apart, according to Rear Adm. Jacques Mazars of the French Navy.

The first data recorder was found on Tuesday.

That distance is unreachable by divers who can go no deeper than 115 feet (35 m). In about a week, a French robot, "Super Achille," will arrive in Egypt to search for the submerged data recorders.

The Red Sea's underwater terrain can drop from 200 to 1,000 feet in a short distance, which could complicate the robot's search, Mazars said.

The crash was the worst air disaster for France in history in terms of French casualties. Officials have said mechanical failure is the most likely cause.

French officials have indicated that some bodies may never be found.


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