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An Air France plane carrying 228 people from Brazil to France has vanished over the Atlantic after a possible lightning strike, airline officials say.

The Airbus sent an automatic message at 0214 GMT, four hours after leaving Rio de Janeiro, reporting a short circuit as it flew through strong turbulence.

It was well over the ocean when it was lost, making Brazilian and French search planes' task more difficult.

Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris has set up a crisis centre.


The black box will be at the bottom of the sea
Douglas Ferreira Machado
chief Brazilian air accident investigator

In pictures: Waiting for news
Timeline of Flight AF 447
Britons may be on lost plane

"We are without a doubt faced with an air disaster," Air France chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon told reporters.

"The entire company is thinking of the families and shares their pain."

Flight AF 447 left Rio at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday. It had 216 passengers and 12 crew on board, including three pilots. The passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men.

Most of those aboard were Brazilians while the others included 40 French people and at least 20 Germans, the French government said.

A number of Italians and Britons are also believed to have been aboard.

'Long search'

The Airbus 330-200 had been expected to arrive in Paris at 1110 local time (0910 GMT).


Gary Duffy
Gary Duffy, BBC News, Sao Paolo


The plane disappeared at what would have been the most vulnerable stage of the flight.

When flights leave Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, they normally make their way overland, I presume for safety reasons, for the early stages of the flight, for as long as possible.

They then turn over the north-eastern coast of Brazil out into the vast crossing over the Atlantic.

So it was at that vulnerable stage that unfortunately the plane disappeared.

The authorities face a major task with a vast area of Atlantic to be covered.

It made its last radio contact at 0133 GMT (2233 Brazilian time) when it was 565km (360m) off Brazil's north-eastern coast, Brazil's air force said.

The crew said they were planning to enter Senegalese airspace at 0220 GMT and that the plane was flying normally at an altitude of 10,670m (35,000ft) and a speed of 840km/h (520mph).

At 0220, when Brazilian air traffic controllers saw the plane had not made its required radio call saying it was crossing into Senegalese airspace, air traffic control in the Senegalese capital was contacted.

At 0530 GMT, Brazil's air force launched a search-and-rescue mission, sending out a coast guard patrol plane and a specialised air force rescue aircraft.

"The plane might have been struck by lightning - it's a possibility," Francois Brousse, head of communications at Air France, told reporters in Paris.

Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, said the search would take "a long time".

"It could be a long, sad story," he told Brazil's Globo news. "The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."

France's minister responsible for transportation, Jean-Louis Borloo, ruled out hijacking as a cause of the plane's loss.

Crisis centre

An Air France official told AFP that people awaiting the flight would be received in a special area at Charles de Gaulle airport's second terminal.


TIMELINE
Air France Airbus A330-200 believed to be the missing plane - archive image from AirTeam Images
Flight AF 447 left Rio at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday
Airbus A330-200 carrying 216 passengers and at least 12 crew
Contact lost 0130 GMT
Missed scheduled landing at 1110 local time (0910 GMT) in Paris

Air disasters timeline

Relatives and friends of the passengers have been ushered away from the main arrivals hall, the BBC's Alistair Sandford reports from Paris.

"I want to say that everyone at Air France is deeply moved and shares the grief of the relatives of the passengers, and we will do everything possible to help them,