Air France Passenger Jet Missing

The Travel Times World Travel Blog understands today that an Air France passenger jet carrying 228 people and 12 crew has gone missing. The jet dropped off the radar over the Atlantic coast of Brazil, a Paris airport official confirmed.


"We are very worried," he said. "The plane disappeared from the screens several hours ago.

"It could be a transponder problem, but this kind of fault is very rare and the plane did not land when expected."


Contact was lost with the plane – flight AF447 at 6am GMT after it took off from Rio heading for Paris. It was due to land in the French capital at 9.10am GMT. Airport authorities have set up a 'crisis cell' at Charles de Gaulle.