Timeline of Flight AF 447 ===========
Details are emerging of the events leading up to the disappearance of an Air France flight from Brazil to France in the early hours of Monday.
Flight AF 447 left Rio de Janeiro, bound for Paris, at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday 31 May.
The aircraft in question, an
Airbus A330-200 with registration F-GZCP, had been in operation since April 2005.
Shortly after the aircraft's scheduled arrival time in Paris of 1110 local time (0910 GMT), it was announced that the flight was missing.
Here is what is known so far:
2200 GMT, Sunday 31 May: AF 447 takes off from Rio de Janeiro's Galeao International Airport, heading for Paris Charles de Gaulle.
0133 GMT, Monday 1 June: Last radar contact with flight AF 447, according to the Brazilian air force. The jet had just passed the Fernando de Noronha islands, about 350 km (217 miles) off the coast of Brazil.
Graphic of Airbus A330
0200 GMT: The aircraft crossed through a "thunderous zone with strong turbulence" according to an Air France statement.
0214 GMT: According to the airline, an automated message was received indicating an "electrical circuit malfunction" on board.
0715 GMT: Air France decided "the situation was serious", according to the airline's chief executive Pierre Henri Gourgeon. Plans to establish a crisis centre are drawn up.
0910 GMT: Aircraft was due to land at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
0935 GMT: Paris airport officials announce to the public that flight AF 447 is missing.
1017 GMT: Brazil's air force confirms a search and rescue operation is under way near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha.
1036 GMT: Air France confirms it is "without news" from the aircraft.
1116 GMT: Senior French minister Jean-Louis Borloo says the plane would have run out of fuel by this point, and adds: "We must now envisage the most tragic scenario." He rules out a hijacking.
1140 GMT: Brazil's air force says Flight AF 447 was "well advanced" over the Atlantic Ocean when it went missing.
1142 GMT: Air France confirms it received a message about an electrical fault from the aircraft.
1213 GMT: Air France suggests the
electrical fault may have been caused by the plane suffering a
lightning strike.
1515 GMT: It is reported that most of the 228 people on board the missing airliner are Brazilian, while at least 40 are French and 20 are German, according to a French minister.
1632 GMT: An Air France spokesman confirms there are 80 Brazilians on board the missing plane, as well as German, Italian, American, Chinese, British and Spanish citizens.
1651 GMT: French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the prospect of finding survivors from the flight is "very slim".
from...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/