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AF flight from Rio missing [merged]

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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:50 am
  #166  
 
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Yes, very tragic. Condolences to family and friends of those onboard.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:54 am
  #167  
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Condolences from a BA Crew member to my Air France colleagues and missing persons families.

Prayers said in my thoughts for you.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:55 am
  #168  
 
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France 24 reports

The mysterious disappearance was first reported by air traffic controllers who reported the flight had dropped off radar screens.
If that turns out to be true, then the aiplane must have broken into pices while mid-air.

Hower, for the moment being, there are only rumor and speculation around.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:57 am
  #169  
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Reading this thread, in its entirety, is very interesting. Some of the speculation in the first hour or two, by people on these boards, make the press sound responsible, by comparison.
hhdl likes this.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:58 am
  #170  
 
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Originally Posted by CDG1
I highly doubt that BNP Paribas flies their 2 highest executives on commercial liners.

It's private jets every time, IMHO.
According to the DJ newswire, the Head of Latin American Ops for Michelin (along with the company's Brazil Computing Manager) were on the flight.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:59 am
  #171  
 
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In addition, the following has just come through:

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Erich Heine, president of CSA, a steel mill joint-venture project of Brazilian mining giant Vale S.A. (VALE) and Germany's ThyssenKrupp, was on board the Air France airline that went missing, the Estado News Agency reported Monday.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 9:59 am
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Originally Posted by nicolas75
A majority of Brazilians, at least 40 Frenchs and 20 Germans were among the passengers on the Airbus A330 disappeared Monday between Rio de Janeiro and Paris, said the French Minister for Transport, Jean-Louis Borloo.

"There is a majority of Brazilians, between 40 and 60 French, 25 Germans and on issues identified at this time," said to the AFP Mr Borloo.

Six Danish, five Italians, three Moroccans and two Lebanese were also among the passengers, according to various sources. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown expressed his fear that some British passengers were also in the plane

source: Le Point
Here's what I've got:

PARIS (AFP)--Most of the 228 people on board an Air France-KLM (AF.FR) airliner missing over the Atlantic are Brazilian, while at least 40 are French and 20 are German, a French minister said Monday.
Separately, officials from other countries said it was believed that there were six Danes, five Italians, three Moroccans, two Lebanese and a Portuguese among the passengers. Officials haven't held out much hope for survivors.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:02 am
  #173  
 
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Terrible news. Keep hoping that against all odds they somehow made it.

Question for the knowledgeable: How is it possible that there is no signal from the aircraft? Is there anything besides the transponder that would be useful in identifying its position? Is the black box capable of transmitting its location?

As for the A330, wasn't this the type of aircraft that was involved in the AA accident in November 2001? Not that it has any relevance to this case, just curious since some people mentioned that this aircraft type has a perfect safety record.

My heart goes out to these poor people who were on board and their families.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:02 am
  #174  
 
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Just for the record: Pan Am 214 was hit by lightning on December 08, 1963 and crashed mid-air as a result of this. Details can be found at Aviation Saftey Net.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:04 am
  #175  
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Originally Posted by sbm12
It was LGA and they had the luxury of landing on the relatively placid Hudson River. Landing on open water where there is motion on the surface is a MUCH riskier proposition and much less likely to happen successfully. The plane on the Hudson also had the advantage of full operations of their systems, other than the engines. At this point it sounds like the reason this plane went down is because they didn't have control of those systems.
Even then, the 1549 pax were in some peril for the time that they were exposed to the elements after landing, especially those who jumped or fell in to the water. They were saved because help arrived alomost immediately. While the ocean temps in the search area are probably warmer than the Hudson in January, they probably are not warm enough to allow for long term survival.

Truly a sad day in the aviation world.
It does look that way. We got lucky in January w/ 1549, but it doesn't look good for history to repeat itself.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:05 am
  #176  
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Originally Posted by dolcevita
As for the A330, wasn't this the type of aircraft that was involved in the AA accident in November 2001? Not that it has any relevance to this case, just curious since some people mentioned that this aircraft type has a perfect safety record.
No, that was an A300-600R. The A330 is completely different design, probably having more in common with an A320 than an A300.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:06 am
  #177  
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Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck
Just for the record: Pan Am 214 was hit by lightning on December 08, 1963 and crashed mid-air as a result of this. Details can be found at Aviation Saftey Net.
...but not fueled with Jet A1 fuel at that time ...
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:06 am
  #178  
 
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Originally Posted by dolcevita

As for the A330, wasn't this the type of aircraft that was involved in the AA accident in November 2001? Not that it has any relevance to this case, just curious since some people mentioned that this aircraft type has a perfect safety record.
.
That was an A300-600, as PresRDC noted.

Which gives me the opportunity of adding my voice to the prayers for all involved. It does not seem to have been a good 12 months.

Last edited by Avenarius; Jun 1, 2009 at 10:11 am Reason: Beaten to it
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:07 am
  #179  
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Just wondering, if other planes (e.g. EU bound) were in the same area as well.
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Old Jun 1, 2009, 10:08 am
  #180  
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Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck
Just for the record: Pan Am 214 was hit by lightning on December 08, 1963 and crashed mid-air as a result of this. Details can be found at Aviation Saftey Net.
This accident was actually similar to TWA 800 in that it involved an ignition of fuel vapors in an unused fuel tank. The lightning somehow ignited the fuel vapors. I would guess that an A330 operating from GIG to CDG would not have empty fuel tanks like the PA 707 and the TW 747, but I could be wrong.
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