
The Airbus A330 crashed in a storm en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 01 June, killing all 228 people on board.
The head of the French investigation agency, Jean-Paul Troadec, announced the move in Rio de Janeiro after meeting relatives of the dead.
The search of the Atlantic Ocean is not due to begin until February 2010.
The cause of the accident is still unknown although investigators believe the plane's speed sensors had been "a factor" involved in the crash.