An Air France airliner disappeared from radar early Monday morning (June 1, 2009). The airliner, carrying 228 passengers, disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean as it was traveling from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil to Paris, France. Air France flight 447 was supposed to arrive at Charles Degaulle Airport just after 11:00 in the morning on June 1. Instead, it seemingly dropped out of the sky. Now, the disappearance of this A330 plane has officials baffled.

Air France has said that the plane sent out a number of automatically generated electronic messages which indicated there was a considerable technical problem on board. It seems to have been a malfunction of the electrical circuit.

Officials said the passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men.

The Airbus A330-200 is a twin-engine, long-haul, medium-capacity passenger jet that can hold up to 253 passengers. There are 341 in use worldwide, flying up to 7,760 miles (12,500 kilometers) a trip.

If all 228 people were killed, it would be the deadliest commercial airline disaster since Nov. 12, 2001, when an American Airlines jetliner crashed in the New York City borough of Queens during a flight to the Dominican Republic, killing 265 people.

It is hard to understand: with all the technology we have available today, an airplane with 228 passengers can disappear. Our condolences to the families of this downed plane.