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''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'' said there was "no hope for survivors."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/actualite-economique/aucun-espoir-pour-le-vol-rio-paris-d-air-france_182359.html |title="Aucun espoir" pour le vol Rio-Paris d'Air France |work=[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]] |language=French |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Air France 'loses hope' after plane drops off the radar en route from Brazil to Paris with 228 people on board |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1190034/Air-France-plane-drops-radar-en-route-Brazil-Paris-228-people-board.html |work=[[Daily Mail]] |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/01/air-france-crash-a330-brazil |title=French plane crashed over Atlantic |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> [[President of France|French President]] [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] told relatives of the passengers that there is only a minimal chance that anyone survived.<ref name="WRAL">{{cite news |title=Sarkozy: Prospect slim of finding plane survivors |date=2009-06-01 |publisher=[[WRAL-TV]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/5254928/ |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref>
''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'' said there was "no hope for survivors."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.lexpansion.com/economie/actualite-economique/aucun-espoir-pour-le-vol-rio-paris-d-air-france_182359.html |title="Aucun espoir" pour le vol Rio-Paris d'Air France |work=[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]] |language=French |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Air France 'loses hope' after plane drops off the radar en route from Brazil to Paris with 228 people on board |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1190034/Air-France-plane-drops-radar-en-route-Brazil-Paris-228-people-board.html |work=[[Daily Mail]] |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/01/air-france-crash-a330-brazil |title=French plane crashed over Atlantic |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> [[President of France|French President]] [[Nicolas Sarkozy]] told relatives of the passengers that there is only a minimal chance that anyone survived.<ref name="WRAL">{{cite news |title=Sarkozy: Prospect slim of finding plane survivors |date=2009-06-01 |publisher=[[WRAL-TV]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/5254928/ |date=2009-06-01 |accessdate=2009-06-01}}</ref>


On 2 June, two ships of the French Navy, [[Foudre (L 9011)|''Foudre'']] and [[Ventôse (F733)|''Ventôse'']], were en route to the crash site. A French Air Force [[E-3 Sentry]] will take off at 17h, complementing two [[Breguet Atlantic|Atlantique 2]] and a [[Falcon 50]] of the Navy<ref>[http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/defense/2009/06/un-awacs-français-part-à-la-recherche-de-lairbus-disparu.html Un Awacs français part à la recherche de l'Airbus disparu], ''Libération''</ref>.
On 2 June, two ships of the French Navy, [[Foudre (L 9011)|''Foudre'']] and [[Ventôse (F733)|''Ventôse'']], were en route to the crash site. A French Air Force [[E-3 Sentry]] will take off at 17:00 [[Central European Summer Time|CEST]], complementing two [[Breguet Atlantic|Atlantique 2]] and a [[Falcon 50]] of the Navy<ref>[http://secretdefense.blogs.liberation.fr/defense/2009/06/un-awacs-français-part-à-la-recherche-de-lairbus-disparu.html Un Awacs français part à la recherche de l'Airbus disparu], ''Libération''</ref>.


Assuming there are no survivors, this ties as the [[List of accidents and disasters by death toll#Aviation|21st worst accident]] in aviation history. <ref name="Plane Crash Info">{{cite news | Title=Plane Crash Info |url=http://planecrashinfo.com/|date=2009-06-01|accessdate=2009-06-02}} </ref>
Assuming there are no survivors, this ties as the [[List of accidents and disasters by death toll#Aviation|21st worst accident]] in aviation history. <ref name="Plane Crash Info">{{cite news | Title=Plane Crash Info |url=http://planecrashinfo.com/|date=2009-06-01|accessdate=2009-06-02}} </ref>

Revision as of 11:50, 2 June 2009

Template:Fixbunching

Air France Flight 447
An Air France Airbus A330-200 aircraft, similar to Flight 447
Accident
Date1 June 2009 (2009-06)
SummaryUnknown
SiteAtlantic Ocean
Aircraft typeAirbus A330-200
OperatorAir France
RegistrationF-GZCP
Flight originRio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport
DestinationParis-Charles de Gaulle Airport
Passengers216
Crew12
FatalitiesUnknown
InjuriesUnknown

Map of flight path

Template:Fixbunching Template:Wikinewspar2 Template:Fixbunching Air France Flight 447 is an Airbus A330-203 operating a scheduled international passenger flight from Galeão International Airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France, which disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on 1 June 2009, with 216 passengers and 12 crew on board.[1][2] The fate of the aircraft and those on board is currently unknown, but officials with Air France and the French government presume that the aircraft has been lost and none of the passengers survived.[3] If there are no survivors, this will be the worst accident (in terms of life loss) in Air France history.[4]

Flight details

The Airbus A330-200, registration F-GZCP, first flew on 25 February 2005[5] and was delivered to Air France from the Airbus production line on 18 April 2005. The aircraft completed about 2,500 flights in 18,800 flight hours.[6]

The flight departed Rio de Janeiro on 31 May 2009 at 19:03 local time (22:03 UTC) and was scheduled to arrive at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 11:10 local time (09:10 UTC).[2][7] The captain on the flight was 58 years old and had 11,000 hours of flying experience (1,700 on Airbus A330/340), while the two co-pilots were 37 and 32 years old with 6,600 and 3,000 flight hours respectively (2,600 and 800 on A330/A340).[8]

Incident

The last verbal contact with the aircraft was at 01:33 UTC, when it was near waypoint INTOL (1°21′39″S 32°49′53″W / 1.36083°S 32.83139°W / -1.36083; -32.83139) located 565 kilometres (351 mi) off Brazil's north-eastern coast. The crew reported that they expected to enter Senegalese-controlled airspace at waypoint TASIL (4°0′18″N 29°59′24″W / 4.00500°N 29.99000°W / 4.00500; -29.99000) within 50 minutes, and that the aircraft was flying normally at an altitude of 35,000 feet (11,000 m) and a speed of 840 kilometres per hour (450 kn).[7][9] The aircraft left Brazil Atlantic radar surveillance at 01:48 UTC. The last contact with the aircraft was at 02:14 UTC,[7] four hours after take-off, when up to a dozen automatic ACARS messages[10] indicated faults in various electrical systems which may have been caused by a pressurization problem.[9][11] According to Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon these faults created a "totally unprecedented situation in the plane".[11] At that time, the probable location of the aircraft was about 100 kilometres (54 nmi) from the waypoint TASIL, assuming that the flight had been proceeding as planned. It has been suggested that the aircraft was hit by strong turbulent thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean.[12][7][13][14]

Brazilian air traffic controllers contacted air traffic control in Dakar at 02:20 UTC, when they noticed that the plane had not made the required radio call, signalling its crossing into Senegalese airspace.[7] The Brazilian Air Force started a search and rescue operation from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.[7] French reconnaissance planes were also dispatched, including one Breguet Atlantic from Dakar.[15] Brazilian Air Force spokesman Col. Henry Munhoz told Brazilian TV that radar on Cape Verde failed to pick up the aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean, saying, "Air Force planes left Fernando de Noronha and are flying towards Europe to start the search for the missing plane."[7] By late morning, AF447 had been removed from the list of flights on the Aéroports de Paris website.[16] Since 19:00 UTC on 1 June, Spain has been operating a CASA 235 maritime patrol plane in search and rescue operations near Cape Verde.[17] At night Brazilian Air Force continued search with a C-130 and an Embraer R-99.

L'Express said there was "no hope for survivors."[18][19][20] French President Nicolas Sarkozy told relatives of the passengers that there is only a minimal chance that anyone survived.[21]

On 2 June, two ships of the French Navy, Foudre and Ventôse, were en route to the crash site. A French Air Force E-3 Sentry will take off at 17:00 CEST, complementing two Atlantique 2 and a Falcon 50 of the Navy[22].

Assuming there are no survivors, this ties as the 21st worst accident in aviation history. [23]

Possible sightings

The French requested satellite equipment from the United States to help find the plane.[21] Late on Monday, the deputy chief of the Brazilian Aeronautical Communications Center, Jorge Amaral, confirmed that a commercial pilot reported the sighting of "orange dots" in the middle of the Atlantic that could indicate the glow of wreckage on fire, about 30 minutes after the Air France Airbus emitted the automatic report.[24][25] This sighting was reported by a TAM Airlines crew flying from Europe to Brazil, at approximately 1,300 kilometres (800 mi) from Fernando de Noronha.[24][25]

The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that wreckage debris was discovered off the Senegalese coast, but that its origin was as yet uncertain.[26] EarthTimes and news.com.au reported that the crew on the French freighter Douce France spotted debris floating on the ocean in the area earlier indicated by Brazil's TAM airline. [27] [28]

Passenger and crew details

There were 228 people aboard the flight including three pilots and nine other cabin crew. The passengers were one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men.[7]

According to an official list made public by Air France, most of the passengers were Brazilian and French citizens.[8]

Nationality Passengers Crew Total
 France 61 11 72
 Brazil 58 1 59
 Germany 26 — 26
 Italy 9 — 9
 People's Republic of China 9 — 9
 Switzerland 6 — 6
 United Kingdom 5 — 5
 Lebanon 4 — 4
 Hungary 4 — 4
 Ireland 3 — 3
 Norway 3 — 3
 Slovakia 3 — 3
 Morocco 2 — 2
 Poland 2 — 2
 Spain 2 — 2
 United States 2 — 2
 Argentina 1 — 1
 Austria 1 — 1
 Belgium 1 — 1
 Canada 1 — 1
 Sweden 1(3) — 1(3)
 Croatia 1 — 1
 Denmark 1 — 1
 Estonia 1 — 1
 Gambia 1 — 1
 Iceland 1 — 1
 Netherlands 1 — 1
 Philippines 1 — 1
 Romania 1 — 1
 Russia 1 — 1
 South Africa 1 — 1
 Turkey 1 — 1
 Finland (1) — (1)
Total 217 12 228[8]
Numbers in parentheses indicate reports that contradict
the official Air France manifest and can be probably attributed
to a passenger being a national of more than one countries.

Prince Pedro Luís of Orléans-Braganza, third in line of succession to the extinct throne of Brazil, was on the flight.[29][30] He had both Brazilian and Belgian nationalities. He lived in Luxembourg where he worked for a bank and was returning from a visit to his relatives in Rio de Janeiro.[31]

Two Brazilian executives of Michelin (Luiz Roberto Anastacio President from Michelin South America and regional IT director Antonio Gueiros), along with one French executive of the group, were passengers on the flight.[32] The chairman of German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp’s Brazilian unit CSA, Erich W. Heine, was also on board.[32] On the list of a passengers were also: Marcelo Parente, head of the office of mayor of Rio, with his wife, Eric Heine, president of the Board of Directors of the Company Atlantic Siderúrgica (CSA) and Silvio Barbato, former conductor of the Symphony Orchestras of the Brasilia National Theatre and the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre.[33] [34]

References

  1. ^ "Air France jet with 215 people on board 'drops off radar'". The Times. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  2. ^ a b "Air France statement on crashed airliner in the Atlantic". BNO News. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  3. ^ "Air France Says 'No Hope' For Missing Jetliner". National Public Radio. 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  4. ^ Search intensifies for vanished Air France flight
  5. ^ "Air France F-GZCP". AirFleets.net. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  6. ^ "AIR FRANCE FLIGHT AF 447". airbus.com. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "French plane lost in ocean storm". BBC News. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  8. ^ a b c "Flight Air France 447 Rio de Janeiro - Paris-Charles de Gaulle".
  9. ^ a b "Brazilian ministry details last track of missing Air France A330".
  10. ^ Multiple factors eyed in case of missing jet, MSNBC, June 1, 2009
  11. ^ a b Atlantic searched for lost plane BBC
  12. ^ Vasquez, Tim. Air France 447: A detailed meteorological analysis, June 1
  13. ^ Air France Press Release N° 2
  14. ^ "Missing jet reported short-circuit after turbulence". Reuters. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  15. ^ "Premières précisions sur l'Airbus d'Air France disparu". L'Express (in French). 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  16. ^ "Liste des vols au départ de RIO INTERNATIONAL et à destination de PARIS arrivant le 01-06-2009" (in French). Aéroports de Paris. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  17. ^ "Un avión de la Guardia Civil contra la inmigración también busca el avión desaparecido". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  18. ^ ""Aucun espoir" pour le vol Rio-Paris d'Air France". L'Express (in French). 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  19. ^ "Air France 'loses hope' after plane drops off the radar en route from Brazil to Paris with 228 people on board". Daily Mail. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  20. ^ "French plane crashed over Atlantic". The Guardian. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  21. ^ a b "Sarkozy: Prospect slim of finding plane survivors". WRAL-TV. Associated Press. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  22. ^ Un Awacs français part à la recherche de l'Airbus disparu, Libération
  23. ^ . 2009-06-01 http://planecrashinfo.com/. Retrieved 2009-06-02. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help)
  24. ^ a b "Piloto de rota comercial viu 'pontos laranjas' no oceano, diz Aeronáutica" (in Portuguese). G1 Notícias. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  25. ^ a b "France and Brazil Press Search for Missing Plane". New York Times. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  26. ^ "Senegal encontra destroços que podem ser do avião da Air France que sumiu no Atlântico" (in Portuguese). O Globo. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  27. ^ "EXTRA: Report: French sailors spot debris in Atlantic". EarthTimesaccessdate=2009-06-02. 2009-06-02.
  28. ^ "Sailors 'spot debris in Atlantic'". news.com.au. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  29. ^ "Voo Air France 447: últimas informaçþes - VEJA.com". Veja.abril.com.br. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  30. ^ "Folha Online - Cotidiano - Família Orleans e Bragança confirma que príncipe brasileiro estava no voo AF 447 - 01/06/2009". .folha.uol.com.br. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  31. ^ "De Standaard Online - 'Belgisch-Braziliaanse prins onder de slachtoffers'". Standaard.be. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  32. ^ a b "Michelin, ThyssenKrupp executives on missing Airbus". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  33. ^ "Airbus: apólice de US$ 94 mi e seguro incalculável". Monitor Mercantil. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  34. ^ "Lista não oficial de vítimas do voo 447 da Air France inclui executivos, médicos e até um membro da família Orleans e Bragança". O Globo Globo. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
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