Air France Loses Contact With Paris-Bound Jet From Rio

Air France announced it lost contact with an Airbus 330 carrying 228 people. The plane departed Rio de Janeiro and was headed to Paris; according to the AP, "The plane disappeared about 186 miles (300 kilometers) northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal and near Fernando de Noronha." CNN reports that Brazil's air force has "launched a search near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean, 365 km (226 miles) from Brazil's coast." An Air France spokeswoman said, "Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from Air France flight 447 flying from Rio to Paris... Air France shares the emotion and worry of the families concerned." Additionally, CNN air travel expert Richard Quest weighed in, noting the plane's impeccable safety record, "It has very good range, and is extremely popular with airlines because of its versatility."

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By Jen Chung in News on June 1, 2009 7:30 AM

Comments [rss]

mellow_fellow

Why is this on Gothamist?

NannyState

Air France flights sometimes arrive at JFK?

NannyState

"Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from Air France flight 447 flying from Rio to Paris..."

What is this, 1915? Are they talking about the Lusitania?

palestine

Its okay guys, they're just lost on some deserted island with this thing called a "smoke monster" and being attacked by people called the "others".

Too soon?

r1b2

Thoughts go out to the families of those on board.

Kojak

Thx! My reply to felix still makes sense though, but those are a lot of fatalities...

Spirit of 76

Not that many considering the stats run from 1945 until now. It's about 150 fatalities per year. That's less than the capacity of one airliner. How many millons of flights take place every year? To quote Superman as played by the late Christopher Reeve, "Statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel." Consider how many Americans die in car accidents every year or even from influenza. It's a lot more than 150.

felixthecat2

http://aviation-safety.net/statistics/geographical/worst_geo_loc.php, USA is #1 in fatal civil airliner accidents and Brazil is #4, damn, I feel like canceling my flight now.

Kojak

Whoops. Bad link too.

Jen Chung

Try this http://aviation-safety.net/statistics/geographical/worst_geo_loc.php

Kojak

Brazil has just a small fraction of airline traffic compared to that of the United States. So unless those figures take that into account I wouldn't pay much attention.

felixthecat2

Kojak, you are factually correct but emotionally I am nervous about my flight next month. Perhaps ignorance is bliss sometimes. I should have never checked those stats.

felixthecat2

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/rates.htm

AirFrance doesn't have good safety record, it ranks Europe 65/88 in safety

Proof your work

The flight left from Brazil, which a quote you provide validates " from Rio to Paris". However your own original reporting/work states that it is a Brazil bound jet.

Please proof your work before posting...

Jen Chung

Thanks, I'm hoping this is my only case of the Mondays today.

coconutendo

Paris-bound. According to CNN, "It was scheduled to land in Paris at 11:15 a.m. local time (5:15 a.m. ET)."

felixthecat2

Air France said in a statement the plane sent an automatic message reporting an electrical short-circuit at 0214 GMT, roughly 15 minutes after flying into the turbulence. Brazil had two major plane crashes in 2006 and 2007, raising concerns about the safety of air travel in Latin America's largest country.

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5501PB20090601?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0