Air France received a bomb threat four days before Flight 447 plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, it emerged yesterday.
The telephone warning targeted a flight from Buenos Aires that was also travelling to Paris. Although that plane arrived safely on May 27, the news fuelled speculation that there may be a more sinister explanation for why the Airbus from Rio de Janeiro vanished from radar screens with 228 people on board, including five Britons.
Aviation experts said the vast area over which debris has been found suggested there was an in-flight explosion, but that did not mean a bomb had to be the cause. The explosion and resulting break-up could have resulted from a massive depressurisation inside the plane for another reason. If this happened at high altitude, the passengers would have fallen instantly unconscious and may have been oblivious to their fate.
Details of the messages sent by the plane just before it disappeared were published in a Brazilian newspaper yesterday. The report, citing an Air France source, said the pilot sent a signal at 11pm local time saying he was flying through an area of 'CBs' - black, electrically charged thunder clouds. (Daily Mail)
