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Investigators ponder disappearance of Air France jet over Atlantic

By AP

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) - What happened to Air France Flight 447?

Investigators are considering several theories about why the plane disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean with 228 people on board.

The plane left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night en route to Paris.

A few hours into the flight, it sent an automated message that its electrical system had failed. That was the last communication.

Brazil's largest airline (TAM) says pilots on one of its flights spotted orange points on the ocean, which they thought could have been fire. Brazilian air force jets have been conducting nighttime searches and a Brazilian ship is expected to arrive in the area tomorrow.

A Pentagon official says there's been no indication that terrorism was involved, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy says "no hypothesis" is being excluded. Towering thunderstorms and bands of extremely turbulent weather stretched across the area where Flight 447 vanished, leading to questions whether lightning, hail, heavy winds or some combination might have been to blame.

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