he Air France plane that disappeared between Brazil and France with 228 people on board today has almost certainly crashed, airline and government officials said.
If no survivors are found it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in the firm's 75-year history.
The officials believe the Airbus A330-200 aircraft crashed after running into lightning and thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.
Gordon Brown said he feared Britons were among the passengers. "I do fear there may be some British citizens on board," the prime minister told Sky News. "We are doing all the checking that is necessary."
The Air France chief executive, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, told a news conference: "We are probably facing an air catastrophe."
He said the aircraft went through a thunderstorm with strong turbulence at about 3am BST.
An automated message was received at 3.14am indicating a failure of the electrical system, Air France said in a statement.
"The whole company shares the anxiety of the families," Gourgeon said. "We are doing everything possible to get information through, little by little, as it comes through."
François Brousse, an Air France spokesman, said several of the plane's mechanisms had malfunctioned, preventing it from making contact with air traffic controllers.
"It is probably a combination of circumstances that could have led to the crash," he said.
Brazilian air force planes are searching the Atlantic for flight AF447, which left Rio de Janeiro at 7pm local time (11pm BST) yesterday. It had been expected in Paris at 11.15am .
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he Air France plane that disappeared between Brazil and France with 228 people on board today has almost certainly crashed, airline and government officials said.
If no survivors are found it will be the worst loss of life involving an Air France plane in the firm's 75-year history.
The ...
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