Air France passenger jet vanishes from radar

[tresjoliex]

Very sad. I'm praying..

[dreamdoll]

I just heard this on this news! It seems the jet got struck by lighting and ended up in a thunderstorm, and possibly out of fuel by now, I feel really bad for all their loved ones :(

[calicaliente]

So sad, I just read about this. I feel so sad for all the families :(

[dressage queen]

Originally Posted by dreamdoll

I just heard this on this news! It seems the jet got struck by lighting and ended up in a thunderstorm, and possibly out of fuel by now, I feel really bad for all their loved ones :(

while they aren't excluding any possibilities, it would be very unusual for lightning to cause such a catastrophe - airliners are built to withstand lightning strikes and dissipate the charge along the fuselage. these aircraft routinely fly through thunderstorms - though they do often go around for passenger comfort, it's not considered a safety precaution. however i gather that tropical storms are a different animal and maybe something one-in-a-billion happened.

ETA: by this time they would certainly have exhausted reserve fuel and no longer be in the air, but with the loss of communication it sounds like they were down before the fuel was used up.

so very sad.

[TXGirlie]

Very sad...That airbus supposedly had been in maintenace for electrical problems, so if they got struck by lightning, it certainly wouldn't have helped whatever their prior problems were. I'm afraid that they may have encountered severe turbulence which can be bad enough to cause structural damage, and maybe in-flight seperation.

The best case scenario would be that they ditched in the warm waters and had enough life rafts....or dead-sticked an approach into a nearby island airport (been done before by a jet that ran out of fuel).

This reminds me of all the incidents in the Bermuda Triangle!

[moi et mes sacs]

Aircraft are not built to withstand thunderstorms. They are avoided at all costs. Lightning will bring an aircraft down.
I am sorry that this has happened, it must have been unexpected weather and the cost is very high. It is very sad. Courage to the families.

[dusty paws]

i just flew yesterday... this is horrible. praying for these people and their families.

[dressage queen]

commercial aircraft are most certainly built to withstand thunderstorms, and there are all sort of regulations in place to ensure that that is the case. pilots will go around them if schedule and fuel permit, but are routinely required to fly through storm cells. if thunderstorms were truly to be avoided at all costs, then commercial aviation as we know it would be impossible.

from what i undrstand, the most dangerous place to be with a plane during a thunderstorm is landing or taking off - the storms can cause quick changes in wind speed, direction and air pressure that can destabilize the aircraft. it's been the cause of several crashes, and is the reason that the planes will be circling an airport (in the storm) rather than landing.

the last time lightning was blamed for a US crash (US territory or US craft anywhere) was in the early sixties, when a spark ignited the fuel - they've since created safety mechanisms to prevent this from happening.

to be fair, i probably understated the effect of thunderstorms on aviation and was a bit blase in my statement. they do avoid them - but not because it's practically a death sentence not to do so, and there's little cause for worry upon finding oneself in an airliner going through a thunderstorm. the lightning is probably less of a concern than the wind related issues - i can't recall where i read the statistic, but it's presumed that every airliner in service is subjected to a lightning strike at least once a year. sometimes there's not even a storm - it's just a build-up of a charge that causes the discharge.

if the airbus went down due to the weather, my guess would be on tropical winds rather than lightning. either way it's horribly sad.

[pursewatch]

How awful.

[Jahpson]

Originally Posted by dressage queen

commercial aircraft are most certainly built to withstand thunderstorms, and there are all sort of regulations in place to ensure that that is the case. pilots will go around them if schedule and fuel permit, but are routinely required to fly through storm cells. if thunderstorms were truly to be avoided at all costs, then commercial aviation as we know it would be impossible. from what i undrstand, the most dangerous place to be with a plane during a thunderstorm is landing or taking off - the storms can cause quick changes in wind speed, direction and air pressure that can destabilize the aircraft. it's been the cause of several crashes, and is the reason that the planes will be circling an airport (in the storm) rather than landing. the last time lightning was blamed for a US crash (US territory or US craft anywhere) was in the early sixties, when a spark ignited the fuel - they've since created safety mechanisms to prevent this from happening. to be fair, i probably understated the effect of thunderstorms on aviation and was a bit blase in my statement. they do avoid them - but not because it's practically a death sentence not to do so, and there's little cause for worry upon finding oneself in an airliner going through a thunderstorm. the lightning is probably less of a concern than the wind related issues - i can't recall where i read the statistic, but it's presumed that every airliner in service is subjected to a lightning strike at least once a year. sometimes there's not even a storm - it's just a build-up of a charge that causes the discharge. if the airbus went down due to the weather, my guess would be on tropical winds rather than lightning. either way it's horribly sad.

very informative. thanks

[Avril]

This is so sad, I hope they are ok.

One woman has hope as she keeps ringing her husband's mobile phone and it keeps ringing out (which would make you think that they didn't crash land into the Atlantic - how would the phone be still switched on if it's underwater?):

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor..._Flight_AF_447

[scarlett_2005]

This is terrible.

[everything posh]

This is so awful!

[Megs]

This is so sad. I haven't had the news on much, but am surprised I haven't heard more about this. Going to tune in. Tons of prayers to the families and plane and passengers.

[Roo]

Originally Posted by AvrilH

This is so sad, I hope they are ok. One woman has hope as she keeps ringing her husband's mobile phone and it keeps ringing out (which would make you think that they didn't crash land into the Atlantic - how would the phone be still switched on if it's underwater?): http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor..._Flight_AF_447

It probably isn't on. The calls are probably just rolling into the cell provider's server and then to VM.