Air France Airbus A330 Jet Missing

Air France Airbus A 330. The aircraft type

that went missing over the Atlantic

Image Courtesy of Flickr

An Air France Airbus jet is feared lost carrying 228 people on board after it vanished over the Atlantic.

It is believed that the Airbus A 330 aircraft encountered a thunderous zone with strong turbulence at 2:00am local time just off Brazil’s northern coast with Air France receiving an automated message from flight 447 about 14 minutes later signaling an electrical failure.

Although experts have ruled out that the plane could have been hit by a lightening strike, It is likely that the plane entered a zone with heavy turbulence and thunderstorms rising up to 50,000 feet, a phenomenon common to this part of the world at this time of year. These violent storms can produce heavy turbulence pounding an aircraft with extremely high winds and hail. Structural damage can result out of these storms causing pilots serious problems if they cannot maneuver around them.

It is without doubt that the plane is no longer flying in the sky considering the amount of fuel it carried on board and the amount of time that has elapsed since it has been deemed missing. At this time, it can be provisionally concluded that something catastrophic happened aboard AF 447 that caused this aircraft to fall from the sky. With no mayday call or distress signal from the flight deck it points in the direction that the pilot didn’t have enough time due to the plane descending at an alarmingly rapid rate.

Air France fears the worst and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the chances of finding survivors are “little”. Search and rescue attempts are underway however searching in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago is considered very difficult due to the vast size of the area where the plane could have possibly went down after it left Brazilian radar. Brazilian Air Force planes are trying to trace the same route that was taken by the missing Air France jet however as of yet no results have come to fruition.

A member of Brazil’s non-reigning royal family, Prince Pedro Luis De Orleans e Braganca was on board Air France Flight 447 travelling from Rio de Jeneiro to Paris. The prince is confirmed missing as announced by the Orleans e Braganca family in an official statement.

If all were killed it would be the deadliest airline disaster since November 12, 2001 where 265 people perished when an American Airlines Flight 587 utilizing Airbus A300 aircraft crashed into Queens, NY after take off from JFK Airport nearby.

My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families, relatives and friends who had loved ones aboard Air France flight 447.