Brazil’s air force says it handed off Air France flight to Senegal controllers

September 23rd, 2009 France asks for report into air traffic controlPARIS — France's transport minister asked civil aviation authorities Wednesday to look into a report of widespread absenteeism among the country's air traffic controllers. Le Figaro newspaper reported that France's air traffic controllers have secretly devised an informal, illegal system among themselves to work fewer hours than they are paid for working.

July 7th, 2009 Sarkozy: Plug air traffic gaps over AtlanticPARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy, denouncing "black holes" in air traffic controls, said Tuesday that officials are working out ways to avoid surveillance gaps over the Atlantic Ocean after the crash of Air France Flight 447. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet were heading to Dakar on Tuesday to meet with Senegalese officials and discuss how to make sure "there is no more black hole" in air traffic control, Sarkozy said.

July 3rd, 2009 Dispute deepens on who controlled Flight 447RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil's air force released a recording Friday it said proves it handed over control of Air France Flight 447 to Senegalese authorities before it crashed — but African officials denied that. The audio clip was posted on the air force's Web site after a French official investigating the June 1 crash said air traffic controllers in Dakar, Senegal, were never officially given control of the flight by Brazilian authorities.

June 12th, 2009 LONDON - An Italian woman, who arrived late for the Air France flight that crashed in the Atlantic, was not so lucky after all. She has been killed in a car accident in Austria.

June 9th, 2009 union: All Air France jets have new speed monitorsPARIS — A spokesman for a pilots' union says all Air France jets taking off now have been equipped with two new-generation speed sensors. The so-called Pitot tubes on the outside of an aircaft are under suspicion in the crash of Air France Flight 447 into the Atlantic Ocean.

June 8th, 2009 Brazil says 17 bodies recovered from jet crashRECIFE, Brazil — Search boats scouring the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday recovered 15 more bodies of passengers who were aboard a doomed Air France flight that crashed a week ago, Brazilian military authorities said. Air Force Col.

June 7th, 2009 Obama pledges support on Air France probeCAEN, France — President Barack Obama says the United States has authorized all of the government's resources to investigate an Air France plane that disappeared off the coast of South America. Obama told French President Nicholas Sarkozy on Saturday that Americans offer their thoughts and their prayers to the French, particularly those who lost family members in the suspected crash.

June 3rd, 2009 Organization of the Air France crash probeThe French accident investigation agency, known by its French acronym BEA, is in charge of the inquiry into what happened to Air France Flight 447, which crashed with 228 aboard en route from Rio to Paris. The man in charge of the investigation, Alain Bouillard, led the probe into the 2000 crash of the Concorde supersonic jet.

June 1st, 2009 PARIS/RIO DE JANEIRO - An Air France flight with 228 people on board was lost over the Atlantic Monday morning and is presumed to have crashed into the sea. The Airbus A330-200, flight number AF 447, left Rio de Janeiro for Paris Sunday at 2203 GMT, but the plane lost radio contact with Brazilian air control at about 0130 GMT, the Chief Executive of Air France, Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, told journalists in Paris.

June 1st, 2009 Air France jet carrying 228 missing over AtlanticSAO PAULO, Brazil — An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, an Air France official said Monday. Brazil immediately began a search mission off its northeastern coast.

June 1st, 2009 Brazil: Air France jet missing over AtlanticSAO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil's Air Force says an Air France jet bound from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean and a search is under way near the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha. An Air Force spokesman says the search and rescue mission was mounted Monday morning after the jet failed to make regular radio contact.

June 1st, 2009 Timeline of disappearance of Air France jetTimeline of events surrounding the disappearance of Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, according to Air France, Brazilian Air Force. All times in Brazilian local time: — 7:03 p.m.

June 1st, 2009 PARIS/RIO DE JANEIRO - An Air France flight with 228 people on board has been lost over the Atlantic Monday morning, sparking a major search mission off the Brazilian coast. The Airbus A330-200, flight number AF 447, left Rio de Janeiro for Paris, but radio contact was lost with the plane shortly after 0600 GMT, reports in both countries said.

June 1st, 2009 Air France jet missing over Atlantic OceanSAO PAULO, Brazil — An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, an Air France official said Monday. Brazil immediately began a search mission off its northeastern coast.

June 1st, 2009 Air France jet w/ 228 people missing over AtlanticSAO PAULO, Brazil — An Air France jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris lost contact with air traffic controllers over the Atlantic Ocean, an Air France official said Monday. Brazil immediately began a search mission off its northeastern coast.