Military planes from Brazil and Africa were searching a swathe of the Atlantic yesterday after an Air France airliner with 228 people on board disappeared during heavy storms.

Air France flight AF447, a twin-engined Airbus A330- 200, was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, when it lost all contact in the early hours of the morning. It is believed to have crashed into the Atlantic after suffering an electrical breakdown during a severe thunderstorm.