Results tagged “riodejaneiro”

Paul-Louis Arslanian of France's accident investigation agency was "not optimistic" that the black boxes belonging to Air France Flight 447 would be recovered. Wreckage believed to be from the Paris-bound Airbus 330, which disappeared hours after taking off from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday and was carrying 228 people, was found in the Atlantic Ocean yesterday, about 410 miles from a chain of islands (map). The water in that area may be over 13,000 feet deep. Arslanian added there were no signs of plane trouble before take-off while Air France said the plane did experience heavy turbulence and its automatic message system signaled that "several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down." A NYC couple, Yu Lan Xu and De Qiang Chen, are grieving because their son Charles Chen, who attended Seward High and graduated from Baruch, was on the flight. Xu, who runs a dry cleaning business on the Upper East Side with her husband, thought he might have flown on Saturday, but the airline confirmed he was on the Sunday flight, "I don't want to live anymore. There is no hope. I want my son back."

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."