Air France jet missing over Atlantic

An Air France jet has reportedly disappeared from radar screens in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro airport for Paris last night. Flight AF-447 was expected at Charles de Gaulle airport at 09:10 GMT [11:10 CET] but has failed to arrive. Airport authorities have confirmed the flight was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew and concern is mounting for the fate of those on board. CNN however reports the aircraft was carrying 231 people.

Brazil’s air force has mounted a search and rescue mission off the coast near to the small island of Fernando de Noronha [-3.9, -32.416667] where the Airbus 330-200 may have gone down. The island is 360 km off Brazil’s coast and some 2,400 km from Rio de Janeiro. Reports say contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after take-off at around 23:00 GMT. However it was not declared missing until 06:00 GMT. Air France says it shares the worry and emotion following the announcement of the missing aircraft. Following the news shares in KLM-Air France dropped significantly, plunging into negative territory [BBC / Sky News / CNN] .

The plane is logged as an Airbus 330-203 with a manufacturer’s serial number of 660. Its first flight was recorded on the 25th February 2005 and delivered to Air France in April of the same year. Flying under the call sign of F-GZCP the twin engine jet failed to be picked up by radar near to the coast of Morocco. Radar stations in Lisbon and Cape Verde have said they did not make contact with the aircraft which puts the plane anywhere between the coast of Africa and Brazil. No mayday appears to have been sent.

Friends and relatives of those concerned about passengers on board flight 447 from were asked to call the Air France helpline on 0033157021055.

Plane crashes in Japan & US

A plane has crashed at Tokyo's Narita airport an burst into flames. The McDonnell Douglas cargo aircraft came into land in high winds and appeared to bounce before exploding into flames. The resulting fire has almost completely destroyed the Fed-Ex cargo plane which had just completed a flight from Guangzhou in China. The fate of the two pilots on board the plane is as yet unknown [CNN].

In another incident a single propeller aircraft crashed in the town of Butte in the state of Montana, USA. At least 17 people have been confirmed dead and reports suggest many children were on board the plane. The crash happened at 15:27 local time [21:27 GMT] as the Pilatis PC-12 Swiss-made turboprop came into land [BBC / Sky News / CNN].

Pilots amongst nine dead in Schiphol crash

A total of nine people died in the plane crash which occured on Wednesday morning. At least 84 people were injured in the disaster, though authorities say only a few are life threatening. Air accident investigators have recovered both the data and voice recorders from the stricken aircraft which came down as it was approaching Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. There is no word as to the cause of the crash. Amongst the dead were the pilot, himself a former Turkish airforce pilot, and his co-pilot [Sky News / BBC / CNN].

Reports of 5 dead in Schiphol plane crash

There is conflicting information as to the number of fatalities following the crash of flight TK-1951. Turkish authorities in Istanbul have told reporters that there are no deaths though some reports suggest five people may have died. There was no fire after the aircraft belly flopped into a field near to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam and was described by CNN’s Richard Quest as a “survivable” crash. The plane, a 737-800, broke into three parts as it hit the ground and many passengers have told of their being able to just walk from the wreckage. Others however have been trapped in the stricken plane and dozens of paramedics could be seen carrying injured passengers to awaiting ambulances. One passenger said there was “no time to panic” whilst another spoke of the plane crashing tail first with the incident lasting only a few seconds. The pilot of the Turkish Airlines plane was an ex-Turkish airforce pilot.

A CEO from Turkish Airlines told reporters that the plane had been built in 2002 and received a full inspection in 2008. He said that it was too early to speculate the cause of the crash until all the facts were known.

Details as to the numbers of casualties are sketchy at best. There were 127 passengers and 7 crew on board and many have escaped unhurt. But there is no clear information as to how many people are injured and to the extent of the injuries. Dutch television have reported that five people have died, though this has not been confirmed officially.

Sky News, BBC, CNN and al Jazeera have switched to saturation coverage of the incident. The news broke within thirty minutes of the crash but pictures did not start to filter into the television networks until 45 minutes after the crash. Nearly two hours after the incident occurred the BBC have cut away to cover other stories. France 24 provided only a short bulletin on the hour and both Russia Today and Press TV have continued with regular programming.

In the last few minutes al Jazeera played out some audio from Air Traffic Control at the time of the incident though it has shed little light as to the cause. Weather is not thought to be a factor with only light mist surrounding the airport. Accident investigators that have been willing to comment say the cause was probably technical. In January last year a Boeing 777 crash landed at Heathrow. The cause of that incident was believed to be due to ice build up in the fuel lines resulting in a sudden loss of power as the plane came into land [British Airways Flight 38 / tvnewswatch].

[Sky News / BBC / CNN / al Jazeera]

Plane crashes near Schiphol airport

A Turkish airlines Boeing 737-800 with 135 people on board has crashed near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in Holland. Early reports suggest that there are some fatalities aboard flight TK-1951 though many passengers are believed to have escaped unhurt. One man who was on board told CNN Turk that he was able to just walk from the wreckage but that many others were hurt. The plane was travelling from Istanbul in Turkey to the Netherlands and crashed shortly before landing at approximately 10:40 CET [09:40 GMT]. The aircraft came down near to the A9, a road only a short distance from the airport. All flights to and from Schiphol have been suspended.

Sri Lanka's Int. airport shut after bombing

A Tamil Tiger rebel plane has been downed by the Sri Lankan government The light aircraft had earlier bombed a government building setting it on fire and causing power outages in the city of Colombo. The plane subsequently crash in the grounds of Colombo’s International Airport forcing its closure as a “precaution” according to authorities. A government spokesman said up to 38 people were injured in the bomb attack and told al Jazeera that a second plane was being pursued. The pilot’s body was recovered from the first single engine aircraft according to authorities [BBC / CNN / al Jazeera].

US plane crash leaves 49 dead

Forty nine people have died after a commuter plane crashed into a house in New York state in the United States. Continental flight 3407 was heading to Buffalo from Newark when it came down around 8 km [5 miles] north east of the airport. All 44 passengers and 4 crew have died and one person on the ground was also killed after their house was struck. There was low visibility and snow at the time of the crash which occurred at around 10:20 pm local time. Witnesses say they saw the plane coming down vertically and others say they saw a massive fireball. The intensity of the fire was mostly due to the large amount of fuel on board, estimated at 2,500 Kg. One resident described the impact as like “a mini earthquake”. All contact was lost with the flight shortly before the crash and one NTSB insider described the crash as a mystery. The Bombardier dash 8 Q400 has a relatively good safety record though there have been issues with fuel lines and landing gear in the past. The crash is the first fatal commuter plane crash since August 2006 [CNN / Fox News / ABC / CBS / BBC / Sky News].

All safe after A320 crashes in NYC river

A US Airways plane has crashed into the Hudson River in New York City. The Airbus 320 came down shortly after taking off from La Guardi Airport. According to reports the aircraft ran into trouble after hitting birds. There were 148 passengers and 5 crew on board the stricken plane, flight 1549 which was heading to North Carolina. Live pictures broadcast on television news showed passenger standing on the wings prior to being rescued. Dozens of boats could be seen surrounding the aircraft. All the passengers are said to be safe and there are no reported injuries.

Military jet hits US town

At least one building is on fire after a military jet believed to be an F-18 crashed into a residential area of San Diego in California. Channel 10 News said the plane came down near Cather Avenue and Huggins Street in University City and that the pilot ejected safely. Around 60 firefighters have attended the scene of the crash. Pictures on the BBC showed at least one house almost entirely destroyed and clouds of white smoke enveloping the scene. Sky News and CNN have both broken the news but have not yet shown pictures.

Update [01:49] - at least 3 people have died following the crash CNN has reported

Update [02:47] - a fourth person is reported missing in the crash Sky News has reported