PARIS, June 1 (RIA Novosti) - An Air France plane carrying 228 people from Brazil to Paris that went missing over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday sent a message reporting an electrical short, French radio said.
France Info reported that the automated message, sent at 0214 GMT after the airliner hit turbulence, was the last contact with the flight, which took off from Rio de Janeiro at 2200 GMT on Sunday. Neither civilian nor military radars have been able to locate the aircraft.
Air France authorities in Paris have said the airplane could have been hit by lightning.
France's Foreign Ministry and Air France have not yet released the list of passengers or their nationalities.
The Brazilian air force has begun search efforts near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha 350 kilometers (218 miles) to the northeast of the Brazilian mainland, the last location the airplane was in contact with ground controllers.
