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French plane lost over Atlantic An Air France plane carrying at least 228 people from Brazil to France has gone missing over the Atlantic. Paris Charles de Gaulle airport said contact was lost with the flight from Rio de Janeiro at 0600 GMT. Brazil's air force confirmed the plane was missing and said a search and rescue mission was under way near the island of Fernando de Noronha. An airport official told AFP the Airbus 330-200 had been expected to arrive in Paris at 1110 local time (0910 GMT). Another official said it was possible that the plane had a transponder problem but this was very rare. "We are very worried," he said, quoted by AFP news agency. An Air France spokeswoman said there had been no radio contact with the plane "for a while". Brazilian air force spokesman Col Henry Munhoz told Brazilian TV it had failed to be picked up by radar on the Cape Verde Islands on its way across the Atlantic. "Air Force planes left Fernando de Noronha and are flying towards Europe to start the search for the missing plane," he said. Flight AF 447 left Rio at 1900 local time (2200 GMT) on Sunday. It had 216 passengers and 12 crew on board, including three pilots. Airport authorities have set up a crisis centre at Charles de Gaulle. An Air France official told AFP that people awaiting the flight would be received in a special area at the airport's second terminal. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been informed of the incident and has expressed his deep concern, his office said. He has demanded that the relevant authorities do everything they can to find the plane and "shed light on the circumstances surrounding its disappearance as rapidly as possible". BBC NEWS | World | Americas | French plane lost over Atlantic