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Air France Flight 447

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Air France Flight 447
An Air France Airbus A330-200 aircraft, similar to the missing aircraft
Occurrence
Date1 June 2009 (2009-06)
SummaryLost contact, electrical and hydraulic systems problems
SiteAtlantic Ocean
Aircraft typeAirbus A330-200
OperatorAir France
RegistrationF-GZCP
Flight originRio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport
DestinationParis-Charles de Gaulle Airport
Passengers216
Crew12
Fatalities216
Injuries0 (all fatal)

Map of flight path

Template:Fixbunching Template:Wikinewspar2 Template:Fixbunching Air France Flight 447 is an Airbus A330-203 operating as an 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 all aboard have died.[3]

Flight details

The Airbus A330-200, registration F-GZCP, first flew on 25 February 2005.[4] It left Rio de Janeiro on 31 May 2009 at 7:03 pm local time (22:03 UTC) and was scheduled to arrive at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 11:10 am local time (09:10 UTC).[2][5]

Incident

The last verbal contact with the aircraft was at 01:33 UTC, when it was near INTOL waypoint (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).[5][6] The aircraft left Brazil Atlantic radar surveillance at 01:48 UTC. The last contact with the aircraft was at 02:14 UTC,[5] four hours after take-off, when an automatic ACARS message[7] indicated an electrical fault and also a possible pressurization problem.[6] At that time, the assumed 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 hit severe thunderstorms.[8][9] The aircraft encountered strong turbulence during the flight.[5][10][11]

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.[5] The Brazilian Air Force started a search and rescue operation from the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.[5] French reconnaissance planes were also dispatched, including one Breguet Atlantic from Dakar.[12][13] 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."[5] By late morning, AF447 had been removed from the list of flights on the Aéroports de Paris website.[14] 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.[15]

The chief executive of Air France, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, said in a news conference, "we are probably facing an air catastrophe". A spokesman for Air France speculated that the aircraft may have been struck by lightning,[11] although this rarely causes aircraft to crash.[16] Two Lufthansa jets passed through the same area before and after the event.[17] French Minister of the Environment Jean-Louis Borloo stated, "by now it would be beyond its kerosene reserves" and "we must now envisage the most tragic scenario". Paris-Charles-De-Gaulle airport sources quoted by the French magazine 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]

Wreckage 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 wreckage on fire, about 30 minutes after the Air France Airbus emitted the automatic report.[22] 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.[22]

The Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that wreckage debris were discovered off the Senegalese coast, but that their origin was as yet uncertain.[23]

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.[5]

According to an official list made public by Air France, most of the passengers were Brazilian and French citizens.[24]

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
 Lebanon 5 — 5
 United Kingdom 5 — 5
 Hungary 4 — 4
 Ireland 3 — 3
 Norway 3 — 3
 Slovakia 3 — 3
 Belgium 2 — 2
 Morocco 2 — 2
 Poland 2 — 2
 Spain 2 — 2
 United States 2 — 2
 Argentina,  Austria,  Canada, Sweden,
 Croatia,  Denmark,  Estonia,  Gambia,
 Iceland,  Netherlands,  Philippines,  Romania,
 Russia,  South Africa,  Turkey		 1 each — 15
Total 216 12 228[24]

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that its three citizens on board were all recently graduated female doctors, one each from Belfast, Dublin and Tipperary.[25] They have been named locally as Aisling Butler, of Roscrea, Co Tipperary; Jane Deasy, of Dublin; and Eithne Walls, originally from Belfast.[26] One of the British passengers, a Welsh woman, was travelling in their company.[26]

According to state media of the People's Republic of China, of nine people on flight, one was an Overseas Chinese, one worked for the Mainland Chinese company Huawei, and six were from a Mainland Chinese steel company.[27][28]

It has been confirmed that Prince Pedro Luís of Orléans-Braganza, fourth in line of succession to the extinct throne of Brazil, was on the flight.[29][30]

According to the Swedish ministry of foreign affairs, there were three Swedish passengers on board. One was a woman who lived in Norway, the other two a woman and a 23-month-old child living in Brazil.[31] The manifest released by Air France accounts for all passengers, declaring only one passenger as Swedish.[24]

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] Adriana Francisco Siujs, assistant to the chief of Petrobras, is also listed as a passenger.[33].

On board were also three Italian citizens from Trentino region, visiting Brazil for official charity travel: Rino Zandonai director of association "Trentini nel mondo", regional delegate Giambattista Lenzi and Luigi Zortea, mayor of Canal S. Bovo in Trentino.[34]

The three Norwegian citizens were all men, aged 35, 37 and 58. Kristian Berg Andersen (37) was an employee of the Norwegian Oil Company StatoilHydro, who travelled together with two Brazilian colleagues.[35]

The Turkish passenger on the plane was Fatma Ceren Necipoğlu, a harp player and associate professor at Anadolu University, Eskişehir.[36]

The Canadian passenger has been identified by Canada's Foreign Affairs Department as Brad Clemes, age 49. Clemes was born and raised in Guelph, Ontario. He was an executive with Coca-Cola living in France. [37]

Argentinean passenger Pablo Dreyfus, age 39, was an expert on arms control and drug trafficking and worked with his Brazilian wife Ana Carolina Rodrigues, age 28, also a passenger, as a pollster for the Brazilian magazine Viva Rio.[38] They were en route to Paris for a week's vacation. Pablo's father is famous Argentinean publicist Gabriel Dreyfus. [39]

The Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Notícias reported that several passengers on board the flight sent text messages prior to the plane's disappearance including "I love you" and "I'm afraid".[40]

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. ^ "Air France F-GZCP". AirFleets.net. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "French plane lost in ocean storm". BBC News. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  6. ^ a b "Brazilian ministry details last track of missing Air France A330".
  7. ^ Multiple factors eyed in case of missing jet, MSNBC, June 1, 2009
  8. ^ Vast search of Atlantic Ocean for Air France jet, Associated Press, June 1, 2009
  9. ^ Vasquez, Tim. Air France 447: A detailed meteorological analysis, June 1
  10. ^ Air France Press Release N° 2
  11. ^ a b "Missing jet reported short-circuit after turbulence". Reuters. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  12. ^ "Premières précisions sur l'Airbus d'Air France disparu". L'Express (in French). 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  13. ^ "Disparition d'un avion d'Air France: l'Airbus foudroyé". La Presse (in French). 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  14. ^ "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.
  15. ^ "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.
  16. ^ "Lightning Experiment May Help Better Protect Airplanes". Science Daily. 1999-07-08. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  17. ^ Hepher, Tim and Wendlandt, Astrid (2009-06-01). "Doubts over lightning's role in missing jetliner". Reuters. Retrieved 2009-06-01.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  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. ^ a b "Piloto de rota comercial viu 'pontos laranjas' no oceano, diz Aeronáutica" (in Portuguese). G1 Notícias. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-02.
  23. ^ "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.
  24. ^ a b c "Flight Air France 447 Rio de Janeiro - Paris-Charles de Gaulle".
  25. ^ Marlow, Lara (2009-06-01). "Three young Irish doctors among 228 on fatal flight". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2009-06-01. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  26. ^ a b Five Britons Among Missing Jet Passengers. Sky News. (2009-06-01).
  27. ^ Air France jet with 9 Chinese crashes into sea. Sina.com 2009-06-01
  28. ^ Air France flight lost in storm off Brazil, 9 Chinese onboard. People's Daily 2009-06-01
  29. ^ http://veja.abril.com.br/noticia/internacional/voo-447-air-france-ultimas-informacoes-474209.shtml
  30. ^ http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/folha/cotidiano/ult95u574808.shtml
  31. ^ Passagerarflyget spårlöst borta, Aftonbladet, June 1, 2009
  32. ^ a b "Michelin, ThyssenKrupp executives on missing Airbus". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
  33. ^ Report: Vergeblich gewartet und gehofft
  34. ^ L'Adige online:"Disgrazia aerea, dispersi tre trentini"
  35. ^ VG Online Newspaper retrieved 2 June, 2009
  36. ^ Son bağlantı 565 km uzakta kuruldu, NTVMSNBC, June 1, 2009
  37. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/01/air-france-plane-atlantic001.html
  38. ^ http://www.vivario.org.br/publique/cgi/cgilua.exe/sys/start.htm?tpl=home
  39. ^ http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/06/01/um/m-01930527.htm
  40. ^ "Passageiros enviaram SMS aos familiares". Jornal de Notícias. 2009-06-01. Retrieved 2009-06-01.
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