If officials confirm the Air France has crashed over the Atlantic, it would be the first ever crash involving an Airbus A330-200.

So far the updates I've heard they only know it disappeared off the radar.

It was on route FROM Brazil though, so I updated the headline.

Pretty scary, especially since it's a proper respected airline...

I don't need confirmation from officials... that plane is in the ocean somewhere between South America and Africa and it's going to take months before they find anything...

And was due to land at 9:15 GMT.

That's 6 hours over due at the time of posting this comment.

SAO PAULO, Brazil - A missing Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris ran into lightning and strong thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said Monday. Brazil began a search mission off its northeastern coast.

Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said it is possible the plane was hit by lightning.

Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, left Rio on Sunday at 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. EDT, with 216 passengers and 12 crew members on board, company spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand said.

About four hours later, the plane sent an automatic signal indicating electrical problems while going through strong turbulence, Air France said.

The plane "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence." An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later "signaling electrical circuit malfunction."

Brazil's air force did not know where the aircraft disappeared, but a spokesman said it was searching near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha because if an accident had happened in Brazilian waters, it would be in that area.

Brazil's Air Force said the last contact it had with the Air France jet was at 9:30 p.m. EDT Sunday, but did not say where the plane was at that time.

The spokesman said there was no immediate indication of what might have happened to the plane. He spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.

Two Brazilian Air Force planes were searching the waters about 300 kilometers northeast of the coastal city of Natal near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, a Brazilian air force spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity in keeping with air force policy.

The region is about 1,500 miles northeast of Rio.

In Washington, a Pentagon official said he'd seen no indication that terrorism or foul play was involved. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject.

more info

They'll likely be able to locate the plane within a few weeks, actually. Recovering anything to determine what happened will take longer.

RIP, passengers and crew. Comfort to the families...you will always wonder 'what if'. :(

If they haven't found the plane, crash site or anything else, how can they already say everyone's dead? It's still possible that the plane is floating on the water somwhere and everyone's in life rafts. Unlikely, but possible.

Airline officials say that an electrical storm may have been to blame for the disappearance of Paris-bound Air France flight 447 between Rio de Janeiro and Africa last night. The flight, which was carrying 228 people, last had contact with air traffic controllers at about 10:33 p.m. local time. The plane sent an automatic message about 15 minutes later noting that there was a "fault in an electronic circuit," reports the London Times.

It's not a realistic hope, honestly. If the plane went down and was intact, it should have made radio contact with one of the various stations in the area. It hasn't. The pilot never made contact indicating the plane was in trouble, ergo, he wasn't able to do so. There was a message indicating cabin pressure was lost...Which also indicates the plane probably broke up at a pretty hefty altitude. None of those things give hope for survivors.

Unfortunately, respect and safety do not go hand in hand.

I have actually heard the opposite about AF.
1. Speculating that everyone is dead gives a bigger ratings boost than speculating that everyone might be alive.

2. It's extremely unlikely that they are alive but haven't been either sighted or the ELT signal received.

I'm usually an optimist, but I just can't believe they are okay given the facts.

does this scream the tv show 'lost' to anyone else? or am i just a lost addict?