Cowboy72A
06-01-2009, 11:43 PM
Air France has confirmed that Flight AF447 had been en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Charles de Gaulle with 228 occupants when it disappeared...
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PARIS, France (CNN) -- The jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that disappeared overnight as it entered an area of strong turbulence probably crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the CEO of Air France said Monday.
The first three hours of what was to have been an 11-hour flight appear to have been uneventful, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said.
But about 4:15 a.m. Paris time, Flight 447's automatic system began a four-minute exchange of messages to the company's maintenance computers, indicating that "several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down," he said.
"This succession of messages signals a totally unforeseeable, great difficulty," he said. "Something quite new within the plane."
During that time, there was no contact with the crew, Gourgeon said.
"It was probable that it was a little bit after those messages that the impact of the plane took place in the Atlantic," he added.
He said the Airbus A330 was probably closer to Brazil than to Africa when it crashed.
He noted that turbulence made flying "difficult" in the area but that it is "too early to say" exactly what happened.
The chances of finding any survivors were "very low," French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Monday
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PARIS, France (CNN) -- The jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that disappeared overnight as it entered an area of strong turbulence probably crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the CEO of Air France said Monday.
The first three hours of what was to have been an 11-hour flight appear to have been uneventful, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said.
But about 4:15 a.m. Paris time, Flight 447's automatic system began a four-minute exchange of messages to the company's maintenance computers, indicating that "several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down," he said.
"This succession of messages signals a totally unforeseeable, great difficulty," he said. "Something quite new within the plane."
During that time, there was no contact with the crew, Gourgeon said.
"It was probable that it was a little bit after those messages that the impact of the plane took place in the Atlantic," he added.
He said the Airbus A330 was probably closer to Brazil than to Africa when it crashed.
He noted that turbulence made flying "difficult" in the area but that it is "too early to say" exactly what happened.
The chances of finding any survivors were "very low," French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Monday