French Airbus vanishes over ocean
A plane with more than 200 passengers on board is missing over the Atlantic.
Contact with the Air France Airbus A330, which was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was lost off the coast of Brazil.
The plane took off from Rio on Sunday evening and was due to land at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport at around 10.15am UK time.
A message on the Air France website said: "We have no information about that flight."
The Brazilian Air Force said it was searching near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha.
A spokesman said the search and rescue mission was mounted after the jet failed to make regular radio contact.
A UK airline safety expert said: "It's almost unthinkable for a western European airline just to go missing like this."
The plane is believed to have 216 passengers and 12 crew on board. Contact with the aircraft was lost around 7am UK time on Monday.
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