Brazil's defence ministry says a five-kilometre path of debris spotted Tuesday in the Atlantic Ocean is the wreckage from an Air France jet that crashed two days ago.

Defence Minister Nelson Jobin said the debris "confirms that the plane went down" several hundred kilometres north of the Fernando de Noronha islands, an area in line with the plane's flight path to Paris.

Earlier in the day, Brazilian air force pilots spotted an orange life buoy, airplane seat, debris and signs of fuel.

The plane disappeared with 228 passengers and crew on board on Sunday during a flight between Rio de Janeiro and Paris, France.

Three commercial ships were in the area on Tuesday and France planned to send a ship capable of deep-water exploration to join the search.

Brazilian air force spokesperson Jorge Amaral said the pilots spotted two separate debris fields about 60 kilometres away from each other. However, they saw no signs of life.

"The locations where the objects were found are toward the right of the point where the last signal of the plane was emitted," Amaral said. "That suggests that it might have tried to make a turn, maybe to return to Fernando de Noronha, but that is just a hypothesis."

French and Brazilian military aircraft had been searching a vast section of ocean between Brazil and the west coast of Africa, for signs of the plane.

U.S. satellite technology was also being used in the search.

On Monday afternoon, a family member confirmed to CTV News that 49-year-old Brad Clemes, originally from Guelph, Ont., was among those on the flight.

Clemes was an employee with Coca-Cola living in Belgium who was born and raised in Southern Ontario, according to reports.

Along with Clemes, the airline said Monday that 61 French people, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans and nine Italians were on board, among others.

Investigators have been trying to piece together what happened in the final moments before the jetliner vanished over the Atlantic Ocean.

The plane disappeared from radar screens around 10:14 p.m. ET Sunday, roughly four hours after taking off from Rio, bound for Paris.

It vanished after sending automated messages saying it had encountered a storm and had experienced electrical problems.

If no survivors are found, the incident will be the deadliest commercial crash since 2001.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday afternoon that the "prospects of finding survivors are very small."