Air France airliner vanishes, chances of finding survivor very slim

2009-06-01 17:48:47

·Air France airliner with 228 people on board vanished over the Atlantic Ocean. ·"The chances of finding any survivors are very slim, " Sarkozy said in a statement. ·The plane was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrics failure.

PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) --

Chances of finding any survivors are "very slim" as an Air France airliner with 228 people on board vanished over the Atlantic Ocean, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday.

In a statement at Paris' Charles de Gaulle following his meeting with relatives of passengers on the plane, Sarkozy said: "The chances of finding any survivors are very slim."

The Air France Airbus A330-200, Flight 447, was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrics failure while flying through an Atlantic storm, Air France said earlier in the day.

"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," said Francois Brouse, the director of communications of Air France.

Eight Chinese nationals were aboard the Air France passenger plane, the Chinese Embassy in Brazil said on Monday.

Of the eight Chinese nationals, one was a Chinese applicant for the status of investment immigrant in Brazil, one was an employee of China's Huawei technologies Co. Ltd, and six were with the Benxi Iron & Steel Company based in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Most of the 228 people aboard the plane were Brazilians, with 73 French nationals and 20 Germans, according to French media.

The airplane, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT). It was expected in Paris on Monday at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT).

Earlier, Air France said in a statement that Flight 447, an Airbus 330-200 bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members, "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at around 0200 GMT Monday, and "an automatic message was received at 0214 GMT signaling electrical circuit malfunction.

The A330-200, which was developed to compete with the Boeing 767-300ER, is a large-capacity, wide-body, twin-engine, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner.

A search was conducted by Brazil's air force near the Brazilian island of Fernando do Noronha, around the area where the airplane disappeared, about 370 km from the mainland and 2,400 km from Rio de Janeiro.

According to a spokesman from Brazil's air force, the search and rescue mission began Monday morning.

The 216 passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men, according to Air France. There were nine flight attendants and three flight crew.

There was "no hope" of any miracle, a Paris civil aviation official said grimly.

On Monday, France's Environment Minister Jean Jouis Borloo said that the plane wasn't hijacked and probably had some kind of accident.

Sarkozy said that he felt "extremely worried" and demanded the air authorities to spare no efforts in searching the missing jet and found out the real reason behind it as quickly as possible. Transport and environment ministers have been sent to monitor the situation at Charles de Gaulle airport.

Possible burning wreckage spotted after Air France plane disappeared

2009-06-02 09:36:09

RIO DE JANEIRO, June 2 (Xinhua) --

A pilot from Brazil's airline TAM may have spotted a burning piece of wreckage of the Air France passenger plane that disappeared early Monday morning.

The Brazilian Air Force confirmed late Monday that the pilot saw "orange-colored spots" on the Atlantic Ocean, about 40 minutes after the last contact between Air France Flight 447 and Brazil's air control center.

Investigators are now searching for more information to confirm whether these "glowing spots" are the burning pieces of the plane wreckage, the Brazilian Air Force said.

The TAM pilot "saw glowing spots on the high sea on its path between Europe and Brazil, about 1,300 km off the island Fernando de Noronha," the TAM airline said in a statement. Fernando de Noronha is about 350 km off the Brazilian coast.

Air France Airbus A330-200, Flight 447, with 228 people on board, was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrics failure while flying through an Atlantic storm, according to Air France. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday in Paris that the chances of finding any survivors are "very slim."

The airplane, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT).

Air France locates accident spot

2009-06-02 10:00:51

PARIS, June 1 (Xinhua) --

Air France's chief executive said on Monday that the missing Air France airliner Airbus A330-200 disappeared in the middle of the waters between Brazilian and African coasts with a circumference of scores of nautical miles.

Air France is heavily struck by the tragedy and all members of the company are in deep grief, Pierre-Henry Gourgeon told reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport.

He promised that Air France would try its best to provide material and financial help for the relatives of the missing passengers and crew members.

Speaking of the cause of the accident, Gourgeon said after analyzing the alarming signals sent automatically by the plane, researchers found more than 10 technical messages which showed some parts of the plane had broken down when the plane crashed. And just before the accident occurred, the jet had passed some air currents.

However, it's still too early to say that bad weather was to blame for the mishap, Gourgeon added.

Air France announced Monday that the Air France Airbus A330-200, Flight 447, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, vanished over the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday at around 0200 GMT with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board.

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