An Air France passenger jet that crashed en route from Paris to Brazil last month killing all 228 people on board did not break up in the air, French investigators concluded on Thursday in a preliminary report.

Debris from the crash suggested the Airbus A330 hit the water in tact, at high speed and in the direction of the flight, Alain Bouillard of the BEA, the French air accident investigation office, said. No inflated life jackets were found, suggesting there were no preparations to ditch in the water.