Georg Burdicek 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 An aircraft owned and operated by Air France disappeared from the radar screens this morning. The aircraft with 215 passengers on board was travelling from Rio de Janeiro bound for Paris, as it disappeared at 8am local time above the sea, approx. 1,15hours before estimated arrival. At the moment no further information is available, but it is said that SAR and rescue teams are looking for evidence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BC Tam 2 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Let us just pray for the best The Atlantic is a very vast expanse though Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naim 6 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Not looking good ... ============ http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523701,00.html Air France Plane Drops Off Radar Over Atlantic Monday, June 01, 2009 An Air France plane travelling from Brazil to Paris with 228 people aboard has misses its scheduled arrival time and disappeared from radar screens, a spokeswoman for the Paris airports authority told Reuters on Monday. "The plane was expected in Paris at 11:10 a.m. (0910 GMT)," the spokeswoman told the news agency. "We are very worried," he said. "The plane disappeared from the screens several hours ago. "It could be a transponder problem, but this kind of fault is very rare and the plane did not land when expected." Air traffic control lost contact with the Airbus A330 at 6 a.m. GMT after it took off from Rio de Janeiro, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Airport authorities have set up a "crisis cell" at the Paris airport. The plane is said to be carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Georg Burdicek 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Flightnumber was AF447, Aircraf Airbus A330-200 F-GZCP Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pieter C. 5 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Looks very serious !!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C.Foo 3 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 French Pm visiting AF headquarters. Let's Prey their alive and landed somewhere like Bermuda. This would be the first Civilan crash of the A330. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/articl...9Dgq5wD98HRB7O0 Air France jet missing over Atlantic Ocean By ALAN CLENDENNING – 21 minutes ago SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, an Air France official said Monday. Brazil immediately began a search mission off its northeastern coast. Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand said. The plane disappeared about 186 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal, near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, an air force spokesman said. Brazil's air force said a search began Monday morning near Fernando de Noronha, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with Air Force policy. An official with the French government's transport agency said contact with the plane was lost at 0220 GMT Monday (10:20 p.m. EDT Sunday). The official was not authorized to be named according to agency policy. 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. Airbus declined to comment until more details emerge. French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "extreme worry" and sent the junior minister for transport, Dominique Bussereau, and Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo to Charles de Gaulle airport to monitor the situation. Associated Press reporters Emma Vandore, Laurent Lemel and Laurent Pirot reported from Paris Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tamizi Hj Tamby 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Mon Dieu! (OMG!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Georg Burdicek 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 There are reports that the pilot reported a few minutes before disappearing that they had a short circuit after heavy turbulence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naim 6 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 source:BBC Air France: Missing plane hit turbulence The Associated Press PARIS Monday, June 1, 2009 05:23:56 AM PT Air France says the Airbus jet that disappeared en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through an area of strong turbulence. Air France says in a statement the plane that carried 228 on board "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at 0200 GMT Monday (10:00 p.m. EDT Sunday). It says "an automatic message was received at 0214 GMT (10:14 p.m. EDT Sunday) signaling electrical circuit malfunction." It says 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. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) _ An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast. 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. The plane disappeared about 190 miles (300 kilometers) 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 began Monday morning near Fernando de Noronha, he added, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy. The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio. An official with France's transport agency said contact with the plane was lost at 0220 GMT Monday (10:20 p.m. EDT Sunday). The official was not authorized to be named according to agency policy. A police official on Fernando de Noronha said the weather was clear in the area of the archipelago 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. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea." 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. "It's nearly three hours overdue. There has been no receipt of a mayday call. 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 pilots on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call," Yates said, adding that the possibilities ranged from mechanical failure to terrorism. Barrand said the airline set up an information center at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for the families of those aboard. That center said 60 French citizens were on the plane. "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. 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. Airbus declined to comment until more details emerge. The Airbus A330-200 is a twin-engine, long-haul, medium-capacity passenger jet, and is 58.8 meters (190 feet) long, according to Airbus. It is a shortened version of the standard A330, and can hold up to 253 passengers. It first went into service in 1998, there are 341 in use worldwide today. It can fly up to 7,760 miles (12,500 kilometers). French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his "extreme worry" and sent ministers to Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport to monitor the situation. __ Associated Press reporters Emma Vandore, Laurent Lemel and Laurent Pirot reported from Paris http://marketplace.publicradio.org/apheadl...dlines.business Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kelvin L 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 just saw the breaking news @ CNN just now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicholas Chia 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Let's all pray for flight 447. Also note that on 27 May, another Air France flight had a bomb threat (see here) An Air France spokesman also said that it could have been struck by lightning. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alif A. F. 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 oh dear...another major air disaster is looming. and it involves one of the world's major carrier... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Adam Amir 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 doesnt look good. hopefully, they could land on the water safely. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naim 6 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Air France says it has crashed. http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/..._100199533.html Source: Guardian Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ignatius 4 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 They reported A300-200.. <_ do only thing i hoped for is some to survive the crash.. prayers all involved> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jen Hau 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Really hope that they could make it through Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Walter Sim 1 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 CNN is playing the A330-300 pictures/videos vigorously! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Y. J. Foo 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 CNN is playing the A330-300 pictures/videos vigorously! At least they are not displaying 737... F-GZCP is pretty new...wonder what went wrong...could it be another SR111?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denny Yen 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Paris, 01 June 2009 - 15:59 local time Press release N° 3 Air France has sent all the information in its possession on the disappearance of flight AF 447 operating the Rio de Janeiro – Paris-Charles de Gaulle route to the French Accident Investigation Bureau for civil aviation (BEA), the French organization in charge of technical investigations into civil aviation incidents and accidents, and to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus. Air France is in permanent contact with the BEA and Airbus. The Airbus A330-200 aircraft, registration F-GZCP, left Rio on 31 May at 7:03pm local time (12:03am in Paris). The aircraft hit a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence at 2am this morning (universal time), i.e. 4am in Paris. An automatic message was received from the aircraft at 2:14am (4:14am in Paris) indicating a failure in the electric circuit in an area a long way off the coast. The aircraft was powered with General Electric CF6-80E engines. The aircraft had totalled 18,870 flight hours and went into service on 18 April 2005. Its last maintenance check in the hangar took place on 16 April 2009. Air France shares the anxiety and distress of the families concerned. The families are being taken care of in a specially reserved area of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2. A toll-free number has been opened at 0800 800 812 in France, at 0800 881 20 20 in Brazil and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from outside France. NB: We ask journalists not to call this number, which is reserved for families and close relatives. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Here's hoping for a miracle...but chances are slim. How strong was that thunderstorm I wonder? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Min Chun 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 (edited) Just saw the latest updates from Phoenix news, Astro channel 323 saying that there are 8 chinese onboard, acoording to China embassy in Brazil, one of them is from Zhe jiang, China. Not sure how true is that. Edited June 1, 2009 by Min Chun Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicholas Chia 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 I'm hoping for a miracle, but that's unlikely. The plane would have already run out of fuel if it stayed airborne. This is really saddening, especially when you watch the whole thing unfold before you. I wonder how are they going to retrieve the black boxes since it'll be right at the bottom of the ocean if it did crash. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Min Chun 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 I'm hoping for a miracle, but that's unlikely. The plane would have already run out of fuel if it stayed airborne. This is really saddening, especially when you watch the whole thing unfold before you. I wonder how are they going to retrieve the black boxes since it'll be right at the bottom of the ocean if it did crash. They can dive if the sea bed is not too deep, and they can send a robot with 2 hands(forgotten what do they call it) if it's lcoated too deep in the sea. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicholas Chia 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2009 Okay, assuming they can send in those robots (I've seen them in Air Crash Investigation), it's going to take quite a long time to look for it and the signal the black box sends out lasts only about 30 days I think. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
