The missing Air France flight en-route from Rio de Janerio to Paris has been confirmed by Air France to have gone down in the Atlantic ocean, with little chance of any survivors. The following statement from Air France CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon was released to the press a short time ago.

Air France regrets to confirm the disappearance of flight AF 447 flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, scheduled to arrive at 11:10am local time today, as announced to the press by Air France CEO, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.

The Airbus A330-200, registration F-GZCP, left Rio on 31 May at 7:03pm local time (12:03am in Paris).

The aircraft hit a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence at 2am this morning (universal time), i.e. 4am in Paris. An automatic message was received from the aircraft at 2:14am (4 :14am in Paris) indicating a failure in the electric circuit a long way from the coast.

The Brazilian, African, Spanish and French air traffic control centres all tried to make contact with flight AF 447 but to no avail. The French military air traffic control centre tried to detect the aircraft but did not succeed.

216 passengers were on board: 126 men, 82 women, 7 children and one infant.

There were 12 flight crew members: 3 pilots and 9 flight attendants.

The flight captain had a record of 11,000 flight hours and had already flown 1,700 hours on Airbus A330/A340s.

Of the two first officers, one had flown 3,000 flight hours (800 of which on the Airbus A330/A340) and the other 6,600 (2,600 on the Airbus A330/A340).

The aircraft was powered by General Electric CF6-80E engines.

The aircraft had totalled 18,870 flight hours and went into service on 18 April 2005.

Its last maintenance check in the hangar took place on 16 April 2009.

Air France fully shares the anxiety and distress of the families concerned. The families are being taken care of in a specially reserved area of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Terminal 2.

[Source: BNOnews]

Related posts:

1. Air France Airbus 330-200 missing over the Atlantic
2. Little known about the fate of Air France Flight 447
3. Woman who Missed Air France Flight 447 Killed In Car Crash

[Full coverage of Thursday's Airbus A320 crash is here.]

Air France Flight 296 — June 26, 1988

This Airbus A320-100 skimmed the tops of trees during an airshow in France. The aircraft burst into flames, killing three people.

Indian Airlines Flight 605 — February 14, 1990

This Airbus A320-231 crashed during its final aproach into the Bangalore Airport. Eighty-eight passengers and four crew members died.

Air Inter Flight 148 — January 20, 1992

This Airbus A320-111 hit a high ridge of Mount Sainte-Odile during its final approach into the Strasbourg airport. Eighty-two passengers and five crew members were killed.

Lufthansa Flight 2904 — September 14, 1993

This Airbus A320-211 skid off the runway in Warsaw and slammed into a wall. Seventy people were on-board, but only two died.

Philippine Airlines Flight 137 — March 22, 1998

This Airbus A320-214 overran a runway and crashed at the Bacolod City Domestic Airport. Three people on the ground were killed and many of the passengers on-board were hurt.

Gulf Air Flight 072 — August 23, 2000

This Airbus A320-212 went down into the water of the Persian Gulf as it was approaching Bahrain Airport. No one on-board survived.

Armavia Flight 967 — May 3, 2006

This Airbus A320-211 vanished off of radars while circling around the Sochi Airport in Russia. It was later found in the Black Sea. All 113 people on the plane died.

TAM Airlines Flight 3054 — July 17, 2007

This Airbus A320-233 crashed while trying to land at the Congonhas International Airport in San Paulo, Brazil. All 187 passengers as well as 12 people on the ground were killed.

TACA Airlines Flight 390 — May 30, 2008

This Airbus A320-233 overran the runway at Toncontin International Airport in Honduras. Five died.

• More about the Airbus A320
• More about Thursday’s Airbus A320 crash in the Mediterannean Sea

Related posts:

1. Airbus A320 Crashes Into Mediterranean Sea
2. Air France Airbus 330-200 missing over the Atlantic
3. US Airways Flight 1549 Crashes into Hudson River

The Airbus A320 jet, owned by Air New Zealand, went down into the water at approximately 4 p.m. GMT, according to various reports from the region. Seven people were on-board. At least two bodies have been recovered so far.

[Airbus A320: Past Crashes (VIDEO)]

The plane was on a maintenance-related test flight, and investigators believe everyone on-board was a pilot, airline employee, or aircraft maintenance worker from New Zealand. The crash occurred about 12.5 miles east of the city of Perpignan, close to the Spain border in southern France.

Searchers have discovered some pieces of floating debris spread over a wide area of the water. It’s not yet clear, though, what caused the crash.

The Airbus A320 was operated by a German charter airline called XL Airways, according to the Associated Press. The charter had been leasing the plane from Air New Zealand since 2006, the AP reports, and was preparing to return it to the airline next month.

In an eerie coincidence, the Airbus A320 crash is within days of the anniversary of New Zealand’s deadliest air disaster. Air New Zealand flight 901 crashed into Mount Erebus on November 28, 1979. The plane disintegrated, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew members on-board.

• More about past crashes involving Airbus A320 aircraft (VIDEO)
• More about the Airbus A320’s design