Air France Plane Missing

SAO PAULO (AP) - Air France officials say Flight 447, which
disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people on board, ran
into strong thunderstorms and may have been hit by lightning.
Brazil's Air Force is searching near an island chain about 180
miles from the country's coast, but a top aviation official says
"it could be a long, sad story."
The Pentagon says it's seen nothing to indicate that terrorism
or foul play was involved.
Noting that the plane did not have enough fuel to still be in
the air, Air France-KLM's CEO says, "We are without doubt facing
an air catastrophe."
Experts say the absence of a distress call likely means whatever
happened to the plane happened quickly. But they also say the risk
of the plane being brought down by lightning was slim.
Air France says the pilot has 11,000 hours of flying experience,
including 1,700 on the Airbus A330.
Flight 447 was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)