MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Airbus confirm that an A330-200 operated by Air France has been lost

An Air France plane flying from Brazil to Paris has gone missing with 228 people on board, the airline informed today.

Its last known location was unclear. Air France says that a short-circuit message was received at 0214 GMT, 15 minutes after turbulence, while Brazil air force declares that last contact with the air plane was at 0133 GMT off northern Brazil coast. Air France spokesman recently declared it has very probably been struck by a lightening, provoking the short-circuit.

The Brazilian air force said its planes had begun searching for the airliner off the northeast coast of the South American country. France also sent a plane taking off from the Senegalese coast. French President Sarkozy will make a speech from the destination airport today.

Flight AF 447 has 216 passengers and 12 crew on board. It left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 pm (2200 GMT) and was expected to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport on Monday at 11:15 am (0915 GMT). “Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from flight AF 447,” an Air France spokesman said.

As there is “no hope to find survivors,” according to French airport sources, Air France and the Charles de Gaulle Airport are starting to give away details about the passengers that were on board of the plane that disappeared today.

216 passengers were on board: 126 men, 82 women, 7 children and one baby. 12 Air France employees were also on board, 3 pilots and co-pilots and 9 hosts. Italian newspaper claim five Italians were on board.

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. An Air France-KLM spokeswoman in Amsterdam said there had been no radio contact with the missing plane “for a while”.

The plane was an Airbus 330-200, according to the Paris airports authority website. Air France said relatives of people travelling on board flight AF 447 were being taken care of in a special area of Charles de Gaulle airport.

Brazil had two major plane crashes in 2006 and 2007, raising concerns about the safety of air travel in Latin America's largest country. In July 2007, all 187 people on board and 12 people on the ground died when a TAM airline Airbus A 320 overshot a runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport.

In September 2006, a Gol airline passenger jet crashed in the Amazon jungle after it and a small private plane collided. All 154 people on board died.

Airbus Press release

Airbus regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Air France has been lost about 3.5 hours after departure. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight AF 447, from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) to Paris (France).

The missing aircraft involved in the accident, registered under the number F-GZCP, was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 660, delivered to Air France from the production line in April 2005. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 18,800 flight hours in some 2,500 flights. It was powered by CF6-80E1 engines. At this time no further factual information is available.

In line with ICAO Annex 13 international convention, Airbus has offered full technical assistance to the investigation board. The investigation remains the entire responsibility of the relevant board and it would be inappropriate for Airbus to enter into any form of speculation into the causes of the accident.

The concerns and sympathy of the Airbus employees go to the families, friends and loved ones affected by the accident.