Waiting for Signs of Air France Flight 447
No sign has yet been found of the Air France jet -- an Airbus A330 -- which disappeared off the northeastern coast of Brazil last night. Flight 447 (Rio de Janeiro-Paris) had 228 people on board. According to UOL, the Brazil Air Force (FAB) has sent five airplanes and two helicopters to search for the Airbus in the Atlantic Ocean, near the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. The Brazil Navy is also searching the area.
Causes for the presumed crash could be technical failure and turbulence. Osmar Pinto Jr., the coordinator of ELAT (Atmospheric Electricity Group), which monitors lightning activity in Brazil, said in a UOL report that it is very improbable that lightning would have caused the plane to crash.
Amidst celebrations of the Year of France in Brazil, this tragedy is shared by relatives and friends of 80 Brazilians and 76 French people who were on board. A Folha Online article published earlier today quotes an Air France report that says there were people from 22 other nationalities on the plane, including six Americans. A list of victims' names has not been issued yet.
I, too, will be waiting and praying.
Update: Air France in Brazil and France have presented different numbers of Brazilian passengers on AF 447. Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) says there were 52 Brazilian nationals. The initial list of passengers' names has been issued. Arlene Fleming has releases and a forum thread on the About.com Guide to Air Travel.
Comments
Lightening will not bring down a plane. It is curious that no voice transmissions were received indicating trouble.
Terrorism, sabotage or hijacking and subsequent crash cannot be ruled out. The location of the crash is ideal for terrorists since even the recovery of the plane’s ‘black box’ is problematical.
Hi Scott,
I agree that all those possibilities need to be considered. Right, why only an automatic contact?
So many hours have gone by, and nothing yet. It’s just too sad, and what an excruciating wait for the families.
oh not again
Flight 447 look beyond the waters. The other airline saw bright lights but could not distinguish exactly from where. Close or at a distance could have been anywhere.