Air France Plane missing with 228 passengers aboard

G.MONEY · Jun 1, 2009

Air France Passenger Plane VanishesBy Estelle Shirbon, Reuters
posted: 29 MINUTES AGOcomments: 75filed under: World NewsWith HP wireless printers, you could have printed this from any room in the house. Live wirelessly. Print wirelessly.
PrintShareText SizeAAAPARIS (June 1) - An Air France plane with 228 people on board went missing on its way from Brazil to Paris on Monday, after hitting strong turbulence, prompting military jets to take off from both sides of the Atlantic to search for it.
Air France said in a statement the plane sent an automatic message reporting an electrical short-circuit at 0214 GMT, roughly 15 minutes after flying into the turbulence.
"The plane might have been struck by lightning. It's a possibility," said Francois Brousse, head of communications at Air France.
Senior French minister Jean-Louis Borloo ruled out the possibility of a hijacking of the flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.
"There was very, very strong turbulence. For now we can't understand what happened," Borloo, the second most senior in the government, said on France Info radio. "We can fear the worst," he said on Europe-1 radio.
"Apparently the possibility of a hijacking has been excluded," Borloo said.
Flight AF 447 has 216 passengers and 12 crew on board. It left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT) and was expected to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday at 11:15 a.m. (0915 GMT).
"It's an awful tragedy. It's dreadful ... Until 10.45 a.m. (0845 GMT) we could still have some hope, but at this stage the kerosene reserves have been more than used up," Borloo added.
The jet's last known location was unclear.
A government source in Brazil said the plane disappeared from Brazilian radars at around 0130 GMT, about three to 3 1/2 hours into its flight. That would mean controllers lost track of the plane while it was closer to Brazil than to France.
Henry Wilson, a Brazilian air force spokesman, 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.

steaktartar · Jun 1, 2009

i know these are few and far between but they scare the crap out of me.......car wreck i know i can walk away hopefully......boat sinks i know how to swim to give myself a shot.......plane gets nailed by lightning or whatever cause i dont know how to fly.......it is scary stuff i know it is the safest form of travel but if something does happen you're done

red007 · Jun 1, 2009

sad news

gtc08 · Jun 1, 2009

lightning it looks like.

VIEJODINOSAUR · Jun 1, 2009

Weather and pilot error is usually the case...tragic news!

baldswine · Jun 1, 2009

really sad me!!!

Icemantbi · Jun 1, 2009

I don't fly as often as some people do, but when I do I always wonder at the back of my mind how many corners the airline cut and if there is more risk these days. It's pretty odd that lightning would have taken down an Airbus, usually these kind of planes are more than capable of taking lightning strikes and severe turbulence. But what if the mechanics were forced to take a pay cut and didn't do their job properly when this plane was last serviced? Or what if the airline knew there was a slight problem, but they figured it was minor so it wasn't worth the cost to fix it?

Another thing is that these planes have weather detecting devices, that's why the pilots are able to warn you in advance to buckle your seatbelt as they are expecting some turbulence. The pilots could have felt that the storm was extremely severe and could put the plane at risk so they could have turned around or gone around the storm cell, or at least navigated through parts that weren't as bad.

Betallsports · Jun 1, 2009

steak tartar said:
i know these are few and far between but they scare the crap out of me.......car wreck i know i can walk away hopefully......boat sinks i know how to swim to give myself a shot.......plane gets nailed by lightning or whatever cause i dont know how to fly.......it is scary stuff i know it is the safest form of travel but if something does happen you're done

I'm with you on this, Steak.

I wasn't born with Wings, so I know if something happens on that Plane...
I'm Dead Meat ! ( No Pun )

Jabow · Jun 1, 2009

Sad, but a plane like that should be able to be found, especially from the last signal on that plance tracking thingy

sumday · Jun 1, 2009

Planes make me very nervous, especially flying overseas. Everytime there's turbulence I think this is it.

I hope those people are all safe.

homedawg · Jun 1, 2009

steak tartar said:
i know these are few and far between but they scare the crap out of me.......car wreck i know i can walk away hopefully......boat sinks i know how to swim to give myself a shot.......plane gets nailed by lightning or whatever cause i dont know how to fly.......it is scary stuff i know it is the safest form of travel but if something does happen you're done

anything where i don't have some control of the situation scares the shit out of me. I don't care how scarce these accidents are. if you get in trouble in the air you are pretty much done

maxdemo · Jun 1, 2009

homedawg said:
anything where i don't have some control of the situation scares the shit out of me. I don't care how scarce these accidents are. if you get in trouble in the air you are pretty much done

Ditto here... I hate to fly. I have to be on 2 bars to handle any flight.

Boxer22 · Jun 1, 2009

Icemantbi said:
I don't fly as often as some people do, but when I do I always wonder at the back of my mind how many corners the airline cut and if there is more risk these days. It's pretty odd that lightning would have taken down an Airbus, usually these kind of planes are more than capable of taking lightning strikes and severe turbulence. But what if the mechanics were forced to take a pay cut and didn't do their job properly when this plane was last serviced? Or what if the airline knew there was a slight problem, but they figured it was minor so it wasn't worth the cost to fix it?

Another thing is that these planes have weather detecting devices, that's why the pilots are able to warn you in advance to buckle your seatbelt as they are expecting some turbulence. The pilots could have felt that the storm was extremely severe and could put the plane at risk so they could have turned around or gone around the storm cell, or at least navigated through parts that weren't as bad.

I am totally with you on this. Pilots, Mechanics, and whoever else is in charge of the plane before or after its in the air could have a bad day at work just like anyone else. Except when they have a bad day it could result in a tragedy. If I could go the rest of my life without flying I would. I have not been on a plane in 6 years and could easily go another 6 without flying, but I have plans in a few months where I will be taking a few flights. The worst thing that people always say to me is, "Your more likely to die in a car accident". To me that makes absolutely no sense at all. Of course there's more of a chance. There are hundreds and hundreds of millions of cars on the road at the same time. I'll drive any day for 8 hours instead of taking a 2 hour flight. I don't like being in a position where I am not in control. Whenever im in a car I have to be driving. Whenever im in a plane I take a heavy dose of Tullamore Dew.

homedawg · Jun 1, 2009

maxdemo said:
Ditto here... I hate to fly. I have to be on 2 bars to handle any flight.

exactly. took 2 right before my flight out to phx last spring. didn't even remember the layover either where i apparently lost my ticket? the only way to fly :103631605

quantumleap · Jun 1, 2009

I just keep telling myself that the track record for these things happening is very good especially compared to how many flights go on every day.

Objection · Jun 1, 2009

and the guy who fixed or inspected the elevator you just got on could have a bad day or the guy who fixed the truck who is in the oncoming lane coming towards you could have a bad day

you could go on and on and on living life with "what ifs" I will take flying over driving any day

Betallsports · Jun 1, 2009

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SAO PAULO, Brazil - A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into a tower of thunderstorms and heavy turbulence over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday, fearing that all aboard were lost.
The area where the plane could have gone down was vast. Brazil's military searched for the plane off its northeast coast, while the French military scoured the Atlantic off the West African coast near the Cape Verde Islands.
Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said "it is possible" the plane was hit by lightning, but aviation experts expressed doubt that a bolt of lightning was enough to bring the plane down.
Air France Flight 447, a 4-year-old Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7:30 a.m. local time (6:30 p.m. EDT) with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, said company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand.
The plane left Brazil radar contact, past the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, about three hours later, indicating it was flying normally at 35,000 feet and traveling at 522 mph.

maxdemo · Jun 1, 2009

A look at some of the world’s deadliest air disasters

Associated Press

June 1, 2009, 11:15AM

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 June 1, 2009: Air France Airbus A330 runs into thunderstorms over the Atlantic and disappears. 228 people on board.
Feb. 19, 2003: Iranian Revolutionary Guard military plane crashes into a mountain. 275 dead.
May 25, 2002: China Airlines Boeing 747 breaks apart midair and crashes into the Taiwan Strait. 225 dead.
Nov. 12, 2001: American Airlines Airbus A300 crashes after takeoff from JFK Airport into the New York City borough of Queens. 265 dead, including people on the ground.
Oct. 31, 1999: EgyptAir Boeing 767 crashes off Nantucket; the NTSB blames actions by the co-pilot. 217 dead.
Feb. 16, 1998: China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at airport in Taipei, Taiwan. 203 dead.
Sept. 26, 1997: Garuda Indonesia Airbus A300 crashes near airport in Medan, Indonesia. 234 dead.
Aug. 6, 1997: Korean Air Boeing 747-300 crashes on landing in Guam. 228 dead.
Nov. 12, 1996: Saudi Boeing 747 collides with Kazakh cargo plane near New Delhi. 349 dead.
April 26, 1994: China Airlines Airbus A300 crashes on landing at Nagoya Airport in Japan. 264 dead.
Dec. 12, 1985: Arrow Air DC-8 crashes after takeoff from Newfoundland, Canada. 256 dead.
[B]Aug. 12, 1985:[/B] Japan Air Lines Boeing 747 crashes into a mountainside after losing part of its tail fin. 520 dead in the world’s worst single-plane disaster.
Aug. 19, 1980: Saudi Tristar makes emergency landing in Riyadh and bursts into flames. 301 dead.
May 25, 1979: American Airlines DC-10 crashes after takeoff from Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. 275 dead.
Jan. 1, 1978: Air India 747 crashes into the ocean after takeoff from Mumbai. 213 dead.
March 27, 1977: KLM 474, Pan American 747 collide on runway in Tenerife, Canary Islands. 583 dead in world’s worst airline disaster.
———
Source: World Almanac, Associated Press.

jwblue · Jun 1, 2009

Since it was something catastrophic, it had to be lightning or a bomb. They say lightning is unlikely, but maybe it hit a soft spot on the plane.

Planes don't just fall out of the sky.

cocktailsnlongshots+ · Jun 1, 2009

steak tartar said:
i know these are few and far between but they scare the crap out of me.......car wreck i know i can walk away hopefully......boat sinks i know how to swim to give myself a shot.......plane gets nailed by lightning or whatever cause i dont know how to fly.......it is scary stuff i know it is the safest form of travel but if something does happen you're done

being a musician who has flown around the world many times over and to some pretty remote locations(try finding kiribati on a map)...planes scare the fuck out of me..i guess i am stupid and don't understand the concept behind this big piece of steel motoring thru the ozones and getting u to exact locations!!!...that's y valium was a godsend when i flew....now a days it's the highways i stay on...like others have said...i aint got wings and i aint lookin forward to getting them anytime soon....