PARIS, France (CNN) -- An Air France plane missing over the Atlantic with 228 people aboard reported electrical problems in stormy weather before it lost contact, the airline said Monday, describing the loss as a "catastrophe."

The incident involves an Air France Airbus A330-200.

The Airbus A330-200 sent automatic messages signaling equipment failure as it hit turbulence early in its 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told a news conference.

The last known contact with the plane was at 1:33 a.m. GMT (8:33 p.m. Sunday night ET), according to the Brazilian Air Force.

Brazil says it has launched two air force squadrons to hunt near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean, 365 kilometers (226 miles) from its coast, although the plane vanished outside the country's radar coverage.

Flight AF 447, took off shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday local time (6 p.m. Sunday ET). It was carrying 126 men, 82 women, seven children and a baby, in addition to the crew, CNN affiliate BFM reported.

"I can say without doubt that this is a catastrophe," Gourgeon said, adding "the entire Air France company and its staff are very moved and affected by this."

A crisis center was being set up at Charles de Gaulle to deal with anxious relatives and friends waiting for news of passengers. Air France has also set up a hotline: 0800 800 812 in France, or +33 157021055 for international callers..

Airbus has opened a crisis room and their flight safety team is in place, a company spokesperson told CNN. Airbus is working closely with authorities and Air France, he said, declining to comment further.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "very deep concern" and asked the government "to implement every effort to find the plane," according to a statement from his office.

Agence France-Presse quoted France's Environment Minister Jean Louis Borloo saying that it was extremely unlikely the plane had been hijacked.

Gourgeon said the aircraft involved was a new Airbus piloted by a "particularly experienced crew."

Analyst Kieran Daly of online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence told CNN that the lack of communication with the aircraft "does suggest it was something serious and catastrophic."

He said the aircraft involved is believed to be one delivered to Air France in April 2005. Watch aviation expert describe possible scenarios »

"It is an extremely young fleet by aviation standards," he said. "The A330 is state-of-the-art with extremely reliable engines made by General Electric."

CNN air travel expert Richard Quest says the twin-engined plane, a stalwart of trans-Atlantic routes, has an impeccable safety record.
"It has very good range, and is extremely popular with airlines because of its versatility," he said

WTF? Is it on a time traveling island? The reality probably isn't that fun.



http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/ ... index.html

An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers after flying into a strong thunderstorm over the Atlantic Ocean and signaling it had an electric problem.

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand said. The flight left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time.

About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.

The plane disappeared about 190 miles northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal, near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said. The air force began a search Monday morning near Fernando de Noronha, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.

RAW DATA: The Airbus A330-200

Sources in Brazil told FOX News that the French military was expected to join the search.

The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10 p.m. EDT Sunday). An automatic message was received at 0214 GMT (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday) "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."


Contact with the plane was lost at 0220 GMT Monday (10:20 p.m. EDT Sunday), an official said.

Barrand said the airline installed an information center at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for the families of those aboard.

"Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from Air France flight 447 flying from Rio to Paris," she said. "Air France shares the emotion and worry of the families concerned."

The flight was scheduled to arrive in Paris at 0915 GMT (5:15 a.m. EDT), according to the airport.

Air France said the 216 passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men. It says the plane entered service in 2005 and last underwent maintenance April 16.

A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear last night into this morning.

"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo news. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."

Air France-KLM CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, at a news conference in Paris, said the pilot had 11,000 hours of flying experience, including 1,700 hours flying this aircraft. No name was released.

Aviation experts said it was clear the plane was not in the air any longer, due to the amount of fuel it would have been carrying.

"The conclusion to be drawn is that something catastrophic happened on board that has caused this airplane to ditch in a controlled or an uncontrolled fashion," Jane's Aviation analyst Chris Yates told The Associated Press.

"I would suggest that potentially it went down very quickly and so quickly that the pilot on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call," Yates said, adding that the possibilities ranged from mechanical failure to terrorism.

Airbus declined to comment until more details emerge.

Barrand said the airline set up an information center at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for the families of those on board. That center said 60 French citizens were on the plane. Italy said at least three passengers were Italian.

"Air France shares the emotion and worry of the families concerned," she said.

A source at the Paris airport reportedly told AFP they have "lost hope" for the missing jet.

France's minister in charge of transport, Jean-Louis Borloo, said there was a "real pessimism at this hour" about the fate of the aircraft.

"We can fear the worst," he said on Europe-1 radio.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "extreme worry" and sent ministers to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to "do all they could to help find the aircraft. In a statement, the Elysée said that the President had been informed of the loss of contact this morning and had expressed "the greatest anxiety."

Nothing a hydrogen bomb 30 years ago can't fix.

sorry b:

Post subject: Air France Jet Carrying 228 Missing Over Atlantic Ocean
Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:02 am

too soon?

damn...that doesn't sound like it's going to be a happy ending

Probably, yeah. I know it's a lame joke about something awful, but the only reason I made is because of you.

dont worry, i saw the Lost joke on many brazilian forums also

Possible lightning strike as they were going through the storm.

Air France jet missing over Atlantic

Airbus A-330 jet has 216 passengers, 12 crew members

By Estelle Shirbon- Reuters, Peter O'Neil - Europe Correspondent, Canwest News Service, ReutersJune 1, 2009 6:31 AM



Distraught relatives and friends of passengers of Air France flight AF447 arrive at the crisis centre at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris Monday. The Air France plane with 228 people on board disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Brazil to Paris on Monday after hitting strong turbulence and French officials said they feared a disaster.
Photograph by: Gonzalo Fuentes, Reuters

PARIS — An Air France plane with 228 people on board that disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on its way from Brazil to Paris on Monday was probably hit by lighting while in the midst of a storm, the airline said.

"The most likely thing is that the plane was hit by lightning. The plane was in a stormy area with strong turbulence, which provoked problems," Francois Brouse, Air France's director of communications, said.

The Brazilian air force said the airplane was well advanced over the sea when it went missing and that military planes from both South America and Africa were sent to hunt for the missing Airbus A-330 jet.

Air France said the airliner sent an automatic message reporting an electrical fault roughly 15 minutes after the plane flew through a stormy area with strong turbulence.

"We are probably facing an air catastrophe," Air France Chief Executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told reporters separately.

Flight AF 447 left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. and had been expected to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday at 11:15 a.m. The carrier said 216 passengers were on board, including seven children and one baby, and 12 crew members. Air France said the pilots were highly experienced.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa said he was unaware if any Canadians were aboard the flight, but added that officials in Brazil and France were trying to obtain the plane's manifest. Five Italians were believed to be on the jet, according to Italian media.

Senior French government minister Jean-Louis Borloo ruled out the possibility of a hijacking.

"It's an awful tragedy," Borloo told France Info radio.

Borloo was among top French officials sent to Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport, where worried relatives of the passengers and crew gathered.

The jet's last known location was unclear and Brazil's Air Force said it lost contact with the plane at 0133 GMT.

"It was well advanced over the Atlantic when we had the last contact," a Brazilian air force spokesman said.

Spokesman Henry Wilson said planes had taken off from the island of Fernando de Noronha off Brazil's northeast coast to look for the Air France jet.

Jean-Christophe Ruffin, France's ambassador in the West African country of Senegal, told French iTele that aircraft had also taken off from there to search for the missing Airbus.

The plane was an Airbus 330-200.

Air France said relatives of people travelling on board flight AF 447 were being taken care of in a special area of Charles de Gaulle airport.

A special room has been set up at the airport for the relatives and friends at the airport awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has asked authorities "to do everything possible to trace the plane and determine the circumstances of its disappearance."

The last major incident involving an Air France plane was in July 2000 when one of its Concorde supersonic airliners crashes just after taking off from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, bound for New York.

All 109 people on board are killed along with at least four on the ground.

In August 2005, an Air France Airbus burst into flames after shooting off the runway at Toronto airport following a storm. No one died in the crash.

With files from Agence France-Presse

© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

If the Air Force has been searching 12 hours with no sign of the wreckage, that's not a good thing, I think.

1 minute! Touche, psychobain.

Anyone think this could be related the Al Qaeda leader Brazil nabbed last week?



Also, as someone who flys over the atlantic several times a year and will be flying out of DC to the London on July 4th, this shit really scares me. It's a strange feeling to look at the little map screen on your in flight tv panel and see nothing but blue. That's why I try to fly overnight and pound 3-4 glasses of wine before the flight. I just want to get there.

they already denied the terrorism thing

The majority of the passengers were brazilians.

looks like some people were texted

"i'm scared" ; "i love you"

sad stuff

8 americans on the flight

Time for Operation Brazillion Freedom.

There has to be someone we can torture to extract information about the whereabouts of this flight.

actually, France just asked for the US help