Air France Flight 447 Is Missing, Thought To Have Crashed

By Jessica Madison on June 1st, 2009

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An Air France Airbus — flight 447 en route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris — went missing earlier today after the aircraft suffered several part and electronic malfunctions over the Atlantic Ocean. While the location of the airplane is still unknown, Air France authorities seem to think it crashed somewhere in the Atlantic and are doubtful any survived. There were 228 people aboard the flight at the time, 216 of which were passengers and 12 that were crew members. Air France has already begun to send their condolences to the families of all on board.

It appears malfunction plagued the tragic flight from the start as contact was quickly lost post take off. After that, not much is known, but that the plane had flown through a “thunderous zone with strong turbulence” mid-flight and shortly after sent a notification of an “electrical circuit malfunction.”

Authorities doubt the alleged crash was caused by lightening or by a terrorist attack, but rather believe it was the fault of malfunctioning parts. Search teams are now looking for the missing airplane.

UPDATE: Flight found, but search still continues for the aircraft’s missing black box. Check in at Manolith for the full story.