Posted on 06/01/2009 3:50:07 AM PDT by rdl6989
(CNN) -- A French passenger aircraft carrying 228 people has disappeared off the coast of Brazil, airline officials say. A file photo shows an Air France jet on take off. Some 228 passengers are aboard the missing aircraft.
A file photo shows an Air France jet on take off. Some 228 passengers are aboard the missing aircraft.
Air France told CNN the jet was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when contact was lost.
The airline said flight AF447 was carrying 216 passengers in addition to a crew of 12. The plane is listed as an Airbus A330.
State radio reported a crisis center was being set up at Charles de Gaulle where the plane had been due to land at 11.15 a.m. local time.
Reports said an air force search and rescue operation was underway around the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha, 365 kilometers (226 miles) off the mainland.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Well. That changes things a bit. May well indicate a sudden structural failure. Now finding the cause of the failure--turbulence, bomb, whatever--that will require finding the wreckage and the recorders.
}:-)4
Achmed and Habib...
It was the pilot’s comment “we have to power down the aircraft and reboot the avionics computer” that was particularly disturbing. If the code is so convoluted the hardware can’t run it without locking up... wtf? I wouldn’t doubt it if they’re upgrading the computer software without review and approval by the computer hardware’s design engineers.
“Going around or turning back is the advice I’ve always heard. Going over is not an option because it is not uncommon for thunderstorms to top out above 40,000 feet.”
Thank you.
BBC: Timeline of Flight AF 447
Details are emerging of the events leading up to the disappearance of an Air France flight from Brazil to France in the early hours of Monday.
Flight AF 447 left Rio de Janeiro, bound for Paris, at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday 31 May.
The aircraft in question, an Airbus A330-200 with registration F-GZCP, had been in operation since April 2005.
Shortly after the aircraft’s scheduled arrival time in Paris of 1110 local time (0910 GMT), it was announced that the flight was missing.
Here is what is known so far:
2200 GMT, Sunday 31 May: AF 447 takes off from Rio de Janeiro’s Galeao International Airport, heading for Paris Charles de Gaulle.
0133 GMT, Monday 1 June: Last radar contact with flight AF 447, according to the Brazilian air force. The jet had just passed the Fernando de Noronha islands, about 350 km (217 miles) off the coast of Brazil.
0200 GMT: The aircraft crossed through a “thunderous zone with strong turbulence” according to an Air France statement.
0214 GMT: According to the airline, an automated message was received indicating an “electrical circuit malfunction” on board.
0715 GMT: Air France decided “the situation was serious”, according to the airline’s chief executive Pierre Henri Gourgeon. Plans to establish a crisis centre are drawn up.
0910 GMT: Aircraft was due to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
0935 GMT: Paris airport officials announce to the public that flight AF 447 is missing.
1017 GMT: Brazil’s air force confirms a search and rescue operation is under way near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha.
1036 GMT: Air France confirms it is “without news” from the aircraft.
1116 GMT: Senior French minister Jean-Louis Borloo says the plane would have run out of fuel by this point, and adds: “We must now envisage the most tragic scenario.” He rules out a hijacking.
1140 GMT: Brazil’s air force says Flight AF 447 was “well advanced” over the Atlantic Ocean when it went missing.
1142 GMT: Air France confirms it received a message about an electrical fault from the aircraft.
1213 GMT: Air France suggests the electrical fault may have been caused by the plane suffering a lightning strike.
1303 GMT: Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he fears British citizens may be on board the aircraft.
1515 GMT: It is reported that most of the 228 people on board the missing airliner are Brazilian, while at least 40 are French and 20 are German, according to a French minister.
Seems reasonable that any aircraft flying over water would have some type of locating device that would deploy in an emergency.
We have done some off-shore sailing in our time, and we always had a satellite device that would/could be used to signal our whereabouts in case of emergency.
Not a good sign...
I've read that the A330 fleet has had four fuselage failures in its history. The loss of cabin pressure could mean a lot of things, like a "popped" door from severe turbulence vibrations.
But based upon what we know, I'm thinking catastrophic fuselage breakup from severe thunderstorm turbulence, preceded by electrical failure via lightning strike...
Oh my.
The passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men.
Some 60 Brazilians are said to have been aboard. Other passengers included between 40 and 60 French people, and at least 20 Germans, the French government said.
Six Danes, five Italians, three Moroccans and two Libyans are also believed to have been aboard, while the UK fears that some of its citizens were also passengers.
If it ain’t Boeing I ain’t going.
Yeah. I didn’t want to say it.
Yea, I won’t be flying the the A330 fleet anytime soon, if ever.
6 Americans onboard.
ping
Approval comes from a "quality control" group. In my experience few of these people have ever even written a 100 line program, and have only the vaguest idea what an interrupt is, if they have one at all. And they know less about the hardware. Every once in a while Scott Adams (Dilbert) nails this.
ML/NJ
When I first heard this one word came to my mind. BOMB.
ML/NJ
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