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Rio de Janeiro â€“ Paris plane crashed, searches going on

01 June 2009 14:38 (UTC +04:00)

Paris â€“ APA. A330 plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris and disappeared from the screens of radars has crashed, French minister of environment and energy Jean-Louis Borloo announced on Monday, denying the versions of terrorist attack or hijacking, APA reports quoting AFP. He said the Air France plane that disappeared with 228 people on board today has almost certainly crashed with no survivors and the plane had disappeared from military as well as civilian radar screens. "By now it would be beyond its kerosene (aviation fuel) reserves so unfortunately we must now envisage the most tragic scenario", said Borloo.
Brazilian air force planes are searching the Atlantic Ocean for flight AF447, an Airbus A330-200 that left Rio de Janeiro at 7pm local time yesterday. It had been expected in Paris at 11.15 am. The Brazilian air force said that a search was under way near the island of Fernando de Noronha. The plane was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members. The plane disappeared about 190 miles north-east of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal, near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, about 1,500 miles north-east of Rio. A crisis center and hotline were established at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.