Air France Flight 447 Vanishes and Thought to have Crashed
Air France Flight 447 from Brazil to France lost contact after takeoff early Monday morning, and it has been thought to have crashed. There were 216 passengers and 12 crew members on the flight, traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
The Airbus 330 reportedly hit bad weather, and many data messages from the flight were sent out around 15 minutes later, according to the airline. The messages indicated that the plane was experiencing an electrical problem.
A spokesman for Air France described the chain of events at a Paris news conference. The plane entered some turbulence, he said, and many automatic messages were sent by the plane, indicating a fault. About 7am Paris time, he continued, it was apparent that the aircraft was in trouble.
A source from the Brazilian government said that the plane vanished from their radar screens about 3 ½ hours into the flight, putting it closer to Brazil than France at the time of its disappearance. However, the precise location of the plane at that time is not known.
Brazilian air force aircrafts, as well as Brazilian naval ships, have been searching for the Airbus. Brazil is responsible for a large part of the Atlantic Ocean, according to a number of international treaties, so the country is in charge of search efforts. The French ambassador to the west of Senegal says that French military aircrafts have also joined the search.
During the search, relatives and friends of the passengers on board have gathered in a special closed off area at the Charles de Gaulle Airport just outside of Paris.