A large portion of the tail from the Air France jet that crashed into the Pacific two years ago has been found.

The news came via relatives of passengers that were killed in the crash and the discovery has brought fresh hope that the flight data recorders (black boxes) from the flight could soon be recovered, particularly because the devices are situated in the back half of the aircraft.

Should they be recovered they would give crucial insight into the cause of the crash in which 228 people were killed after the Air France flight took off from Rio de Janeiro in June of 2009. The official cause of the Paris-bound flight’s ill fate hasn’t yet been established.

Nelson Marinho, who represents Brazilian victims’ families said on Monday that France’s accident agency (the BEA) had notified families that a large portion of the tail was located and was relatively in tact, meaning that the data records could still be mounted to it. He added that he was 99% positive that the devices would be found.

But Martine Del Bono of the BEA asked people to be cautious about the discovery, noting that the boxes have not yet bee located and that after two years of sitting in intense underwater conditions they could potentially be damaged.