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Air France flight AF 447 disappeared early on Monday four hours into its 11-hour flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris after the Airbus A330 encountered severe turbulence over the Atlantic and reported technical failures.
A daytime search by eight Brazilian air force aircraft doing visual sweeps did not turn up anything in the area being searched: a zone 1,100 kilometres off its northeastern coast.
The search was being continued overnight with a Hercules C130 fitted with equipment to try to detect the plane's emergency beacon, with another aircraft with onboard radar, and if weather conditions permit, infrared gear that could detect bodies in the water.
Officials said there was little hope of survivors from what appears to be the worst air accident in over a decade.
"The prospects of finding any survivors are very slim," a grim-faced French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after talking to stunned relatives of missing passengers. "It's a catastrophe the likes of which Air France has never seen."
Although the exact cause of the crash remained a mystery, Air France's chief executive said the aircraft had sent a series of error messages shortly after crossing an area of major turbulence.
"A succession of a dozen technical messages" sent by the aircraft around 0745 IST showed that "several electrical systems had broken down" which caused a "totally unprecedented situation in the plane," said Pierre-Henry Gourgeon.
"It is probable that it was shortly after these messages that the impact in the Atlantic came," he told reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport, where the flight was meant to have landed on Monday morning.
Airline officials had earlier said the plane was probably hit by lightning, but Gourgeon declined to make a direct link between weather conditions and the error messages.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he held out hope for survivors, but added that earlier he had spoken with French President Nicolas Sarkozy by telephone "and really it was an exchange of condolences."
If it is confirmed that all 228 people on Flight AF 447 are dead, it would mark the worst loss of life in Air France's history and civil aviation's worst accident for more than a decade.
Spanish and French air forces sent out search planes to scour a vast area of ocean between Brazil and Africa. The United States also sent a surveillance aircraft and an Air Force search and rescue team in response to a request for assistance from Paris.
At Charles de Gaulle airport, tearful relatives were ushered into a private area to await developments and get counselling from a team of psychologists.
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Really its a very shocking news,about the air france flight disappearence,our hearts are paining for them,may the god rest their souls in peace.my heart fealt sympathy for the families of those who died in this plane crash.may god give them courage to over come the shock. MAY ALL THE SOULS REST IN PEACE.
My deep hearted condolenses for the departed souls and wishes of fast recovery for their families , near and dears..Well,from time immemorial Man imagines himself ever living but some where power of God overtakes. I hope sincerely that the just establised cabinet of India and the elected leaders, MPs and MLA's politicians learn a bit here..Do good to the motherland..Do good to all the people who have kept faith in you...for Life is not everlasting...YOU WILL BE ANWERABLE SOMEWHERE..may all the souls of this Air France Tragedy rest in peace..
It is shocking news. I have great sympothy with the near and dears one of ill fated flight passengers.Let us find out the true cause of the accident and work together so that such incident should not be repeated againDr. Rajeev Jain
It is one of the most sadest episode in the history of aviation.Though we do not know the passengers by person our heart pains for them.it is believed that ab330 is one of the most sophisticated aircraft of recent times.That itself could be the reason for this strange incident.The more sophisticated we are( in the case of machines)the less is the control in our hand..It is to be assured that the pilots should have mannual control of the aircrafts in case the computer fails....
my wife was on this plane crash and we had just been married for 10 years last week her name was sarah walton and i loved her very much r.i.p my love you were the hottest thing i ever seen i love you babe
Let Jesus Christ presence
Its a great loss and irreparable. God bless them, and give courage to their family members.
Its really very unfortunate to hear that an Air France Plance goes untraceble with 228 passanger and crue on board. God blsss them all, we all pray for thier safe coming back.
God Please help the rescuers in tracing out the missing plane...also increase the number of survivors and bring relief to millions of hearts along the globe... hope the plane has fallen over over a heap of cotton and not into the atlantic..let theRE be a miracle...GOD BLESS ALL
I too wanna visit my hometown next month. but now m scared to take any decision.its too painful to know abt these things even to their family members or outsiders.i too pray god for the lives...god bless them all.....
Its a very sad day for all of the world. No body knows what happen to the plane passengers and about the plane. but i have to say one thing about aviation and their department that they shold improve their sysetm otherwise we have to hear this kind of news. and plzzzzzzzzzzzz solve this bermuda mystery soon GOD BLESS TO ALL THE VICTIM OF AIR FRANCE PASSENGERS AND TO THEIR RELATIVES.
God bless them all.
Everytime some very bad things happen We dont have an answer how it happened even though science
Truely sad to hear about this plane crash. Its really sad. I can visualize the feelings of these relatives and the moment they had to go through. I remember once when I had to go through the turbulence and I felt I will never return to this world. Every single person on the flight vomitted and the trauma we had to face was horrible. God help them. Nothing is in our hands. We pray for their sole. And I pray that it should not happen to anyone.
God Bless the all victim of plane creshed of Air France..
May God have mercy on the souls of these illfated pax and crew and may their families find strength and courage to face this disaster.On the practical side , I think planes should be fitted with devices that can withstand direct lightning strikes and radar which warns of such turbulent weather conditions. No flight should be allowed to enter such bad weather conditions .
I am in the airine industry and I know how vulnerable we are to aviation disasters.But we still remain aviators and air travel remains to be the most prefered mode of transport.My heart felt condolences to the families that lost their loved ones and for the crew 'we were just doing our job'.
My heart aches and eyes fill with tears as I read about Air France flight 447 mishap. I have been a crew in an international airline and can clearly label this as the most horrible happening for those on board. It is common amongst crew to say that the aircraft is the only place where you dont have an emergency exit. I pray for the families of the ones missing and especially the crew that must have had the worst time stuggling to save not just themselves but their passengers who place complete trust in them.
this is really sad. the trauma of passengers during death and its after effects to the near and dear ones is monumental; as if someone has stunned you and you are left numb and emotionless. lets pray for the departed and the living ones who now have to overcome this tragedy and go on living.
However careful a man may be nobody can fight with fate.It is very sad.What can we do when fury of nature is against us in specified cases?Let us all pray that such things do not happen in future.If the reason for the crash is not known because the aircraft had plunged into the sea it will be a great disaster and no remedial measures can be taken to prevent such occurence.
Another victim of the Bermuda Triangle? Much was written about this part of the mysterious sea predator after the war , when planes and ships disappeared in this zone without a trace or any explanation . I guess the rescue ops will solve the mystery , should they find the debris . If not , the phenomena will remain a myth unexplained ?