01 JUN 2009 _______________________________________ * Timeline of the disappearance of Air France flight 447: * Air France Flight 447 Flying From Rio de Janeiro Disappears * Air France 447 Intended Route *************************************** Air France Flight 447 Flying From Rio de Janeiro Disappears Monday, 01 June 2009 19:18 Press Release Paris, France--(ENEWSPF)--June 1, 2009. 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. A toll-free number has been opened at 0800 800 812 for calls from France, and + 33 1 57 02 10 55 for calls from outside France. Source: alphasite.airfrance.com http://www.enewspf.com/index.php?option=com_content &view=article&id=7899:air-france-flight-447-flying-from-rio-de-janeiro-disap pears&catid=88888983:latest-national-news&Itemid=88889930 *************************************** Aerospace News Timeline of the disappearance of Air France flight 447: All times are universal time, or Greenwich Mean Time. At this time of year, Seattle is seven hours behind GMT. May 31: 22:03 -- Air France flight 447 departs from Rio de Janeiro. (Brazilian Air Force says plane left at 22:30.) June 1: 01:30 -- Plane has last contact with Brazil air traffic control, where it is 351 miles from the city of Natal. 01:48 -- Brazilian Air Force has last radar contact. Plane appears to be flying normally. 02:00 -- Aircraft hits a zone of stormy weather with strong turbulence 02:14 -- An automatic message was received from the aircraft at indicating a failure in the electric circuit a long way from the coast. 02:20 -- Plane fails to make previously scheduled radio contact with Brazil. Brazil notifies air traffic control in Dakar, Senegal. 05:00 - 06:00 -- Brazilian, African, Spanish and French air traffic control centers try to make contact with the flight, but are not successful. The French military air traffic control center cannot detect the aircraft. 05:30 -- Brazilian Air Force starts a search and rescue mission 07:30 -- Air France sets up a crisis center 09:15 -- Flight was expected to arrive in Paris 11:31 -- Air France announces the following: "Air France regrets to announce that it has lost contact with flight AF 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, expected to arrive this morning at 11:15 local time." 13:10 -- Air France announces the following: "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." 13:59 -- Air France reports that it has sent all of the information it has regarding the flight to the French Accident Investigation Bureau for civil aviation (BEA) and to Airbus 14:44 -- By this time, the airplane is expected to have run out of fuel. Air France publicizes "its deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of the passengers and crew who were on board AF flight 447 on 31 May 2009, which disappeared somewhere between Rio de Janeiro and Paris-Charles de Gaulle." Airbus also announces, "Airbus regrets to confirm that an Airbus A330-200 operated by Air France has been lost about 3.5 hours after departure." 18:13 -- Air France releases a list of the nationalities on board (Sources: Air France, Airbus, AP) http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/169986.asp *************************************** Air France 447 Intended Route This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path. Distance from Rio de Janeiro-Galeao International Airport, RJ (GIG/SBGL) to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG/LFPG) as the crow flies is 8860 km (5538 miles). New Picture This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network's opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20090601-0 *************************************** Curt Lewis, P.E., CSP CURT LEWIS & ASSOCIATES, LLC