Search continues for lost Air France plane
RIO DE JANEIRO – The search is continuing for an Air France A330-200 believed lost en route from Rio to Paris.
The plane, carrying 228 people from Brazil to France vanished over the Atlantic after flying into turbulence, airline officials say.
French officials say it is unlikely anyone on board has survived.
The Airbus sent an automatic message four hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro, reporting a short circuit. It may have been damaged by lightning.
The BBC reported the plane was well over the ocean when it was lost, making Brazilian and French search planes’ task more difficult.
France has sent three search planes based in Dakar, Senegal, and has asked the US to help with satellite technology.
"The plane might have been struck by lightning – it’s a possibility," Francois Brousse, head of communications at Air France, told reporters in Paris.
David Gleave, from Aviation Safety Investigations, told the BBC that planes were routinely struck by lightning, and the cause of the crash remained a mystery.
"Aeroplanes get hit by lightning on quite a routine basis without generally any problems occurring at all," he told BBC Radio Five Live.
"Whether it’s related to this electrical storm and the electrical failure on the aeroplane, or whether it’s another reason, we have to find the aeroplane first."
France’s minister responsible for transportation, Jean-Louis Borloo, ruled out hijacking as a cause of the plane’s loss.
Tom Symonds, BBC News transport correspondent said,
“The Airbus A330 airliner is likely to have begun its journey tracking the coast of Brazil northwards before striking out across the Atlantic.
“A few hundred miles from the shore, radar coverage peters out – from there on, crews use high frequency radio to report their position.
“The Brazilian Air Force says the plane left radar screens near the islands of Fernando de Noronha, 230 miles from the coast. The firmest clue to its fate comes from the data message sent via a satellite network at 0214 GMT reporting electrical and pressurisation problems.
“This suggests whatever happened, happened before the crew could put out a mayday radio call.
“It was likely a sudden and catastrophic emergency. Even a double engine failure at cruising altitude would normally give the crew around half an hour’s gliding time,” Symonds added.
Air France confirmed that there had been 61 French and 58 Brazilians on board.
Among the other passengers were 26 Germans, nine Chinese, nine Italians, six Swiss, five Britons, five Lebanese, four Hungarians, three Irish, three Norwegians and three Slovaks.
Ian Jarrett
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