Messages sent by an Air France jet shortly before it disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean suggest that the plane may have broken up while still in the air as it passed through a violent storm system, according to a report published in a Brazilian newspaper.
Air France flight 447, with 228 passengers and crew on board, went missing Sunday night after it lost contact with ground controllers during a flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Paris, France.
Poor weather has delayed until at least next week the arrival of deep-sea submersibles that are considered the only hope in finding the plane's black box voice and data recorders.
Investigators are left with only messages talking over a 15 minute period that seem to indicate that the plane broke up over the Atlantic.
A chronology of messages sent by the plane was published Wednesday in Brazil's O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper, with information credited to an anonymous source at Air France.
According to the story, a message from the pilot sent at 11 p.m. local time indicated the plane was flying through "CBs," black, electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that are accompanied by high winds and lightening.
At that time, thunderheads were producing 160 kilometre-per-hour updrafts into the airplane's flight path, according to satellite data.
About 10 minutes after the 11 p.m. message, the plane generated a number of automatic messages, which indicate that the pilot had disengaged.
It also appears that the so-called "fly-by-wire" computer system had moved to alternate power and there was damage to controls that maintain the plane's stability.
Alarms signifying damage to flight systems also sounded, the newspaper reported. Three minutes later, another burst of automatic messages showed that systems used by pilots to monitor air speed, altitude and direction had failed.
The last message, which signalled a loss of air pressure and an electrical failure, was sent at 11:14 p.m. This message has already been confirmed by the Brazilian air force, and could indicate that the cabin was rapidly depressurizing or that the plane was crashing into the ocean, the newspaper reported.
"This clearly looks like the story of the airplane coming apart," the airline industry official told The Associated Press. "We just don't know why it did, but that is what the investigation will show."
Both Air France and Brazilian military officials would not confirm the accuracy of the report.
"These are telling us the story of the crash. They are not explaining what happened to cause the crash," Bill Voss, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, told the Associated Press. "This is the documentation of the seconds when control was lost and the aircraft started to break up in air."
Airline received bomb threat
Earlier Wednesday, officials at Air France confirmed that the airline received a bomb threat for a flight from Buenos Aires to Paris five days before Flight 447 went missing Sunday night.
Airline spokesperson Nicolas Petteau said that an Air France agency in Buenos Aires received an anonymous phone call on May 27 threatening Flight 415.
Security personnel did not find any explosive devices on the Boeing 777, which was allowed to take off as planned.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin cautioned that there are "no signs so far" that an act of terror was involved in the disappearance and apparent crash of the plane.
"Oil stains on the water might exclude the possibility of an explosion, because there was no fire," Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim told reporters Wednesday.
In other developments Wednesday, the head of France's accident investigation agency said he's "not optimistic" that the black boxes from the plane will ever be recovered.
Paul-Louis Arslanian, speaking in Paris, said there were no signs of problems with the plane prior to its departure.
Arslanian said investigators simply don't have enough information to know whether the plane broke apart in the air or once it hit the water.
"We don't even know the exact time of the accident," he said.
Arslanian said "until the last minute" officials had hoped it was just a normal loss of contact.
"It's very difficult to accept such a disaster," he said.
A spokesperson for Brazil's air force said Wednesday that search crews found what they believe is more debris from the jet.
Col. Jorge Amaral said the debris, which was spotted 90 kilometres south of where wreckage was found Tuesday, includes a seven-metre long piece of the plane. About 10 metal objects were also spotted, in addition to a 20 kilometre-long oil slick.
Search crews have yet to find evidence of any survivors or bodies.
The debris located Tuesday was found several hundred kilometres north of the Fernando de Noronha islands, an area in line with the plane's flight path to Paris.
Officials are still trying to determine what caused the crash. The Brazilian military has taken the lead in searching for debris, while France will be in charge of the crash investigation.
The first navy ships arrived at the scene on Wednesday, but stormy seas and high winds slowed the search for the wreckage. French military planes flew over the area in an attempt to narrow the search zone.
Meanwhile, families of the crash victims were joined for a prayer service by French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
With files from The Associated Press
