Air France plane missing over Atlantic after storm
PARIS (Reuters) - An 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.
The Brazilian force said the Airbus jet was well advanced over the sea when it went missing and military planes took off from both South America and Africa to hunt for the plane.
"We are probably facing an air catastrophe," Air France Chief Executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told reporters:
Air France said the airliner sent an automatic message reporting an electrical fault at 0214 GMT, roughly 15 minutes after the plane flew through a stormy area with strong turbulence.
Flight AF 447 left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT) and had been expected to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday at 11:15 a.m. (0915 GMT).
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.
Senior French government minister Jean-Louis Borloo ruled out the possibility of a hijacking.
"It's an awful tragedy," Borloo told France Info radio.
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.
An air traffic controller at ASECNA in Dakar says they did not take control of AF 447. ASECNA -- Agency for Aviation Security and Navigation in Africa and Madgascar -- covers Francophone Africa.
The plane was an Airbus 330-200 powered with General Electric engines.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5501PB20090601
