France and Brazil on Monday dispatched military aircraft for a search on a vast Atlantic Ocean area where an Air France jet carrying 228 people may have come down.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R) and transport minister Jean-Louis Borloo speak at the crisis center at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris June 1, 2009. An Air France plane with 228 people on board was presumed to have crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on Monday after hitting heavy turbulence during a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. [Xinhuanet.com]

The planes have started a thorough scouring of areas possible to find the wreckage although officials have said there were little chances for the safe return of any survivors on board the Airbus A330-200.

"The chances of finding any survivors are very slim," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport following his meeting with relatives of passengers on the plane on Monday.

The Air France jet was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrics failure while flying through an Atlantic storm, Air France said earlier in the day.

"The most likely thing is that the plane was hit by lightning. The plane was in a stormy area with strong turbulence, which provoked problems," said Francois Brouse, the director of communications of Air France.

Air France announced Monday that victims aboard the airplane came from 32 countries, including 58 Brazilians, 61 French, 26 Germans, 9 Chinese and 9 Italians.

The airplane, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT). It was expected to arrive in Paris on Monday at 11:15 a.m. local time (0915 GMT).

Earlier, Air France said in a statement that the jet "crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence" at around 0200 GMT Monday, and "an automatic message was received at 0214 GMT signaling electrical circuit malfunction."

The A330-200, which was developed to compete with the Boeing 767-300ER, is a large-capacity, wide-body, twin-engine, medium-to-long-range commercial passenger airliner.

A search was conducted by Brazil's air force near the Brazilian island of Fernando do Noronha, around the area where the airplane disappeared, about 370 km from the mainland and 2,400 km from Rio de Janeiro.

According to a spokesman from Brazil's air force, the search and rescue mission began Monday morning.

Meanwhile, France is seeking U.S. satellite assistance to help locate the wreckage. The first military ship wasn't expected to reach the area where the plane vanished until Wednesday.

The 216 passengers included one infant, seven children, 82 women and 126 men, according to Air France. There were nine flight attendants and three flight crew.

There was "no hope" of any miracle, a Paris civil aviation official said grimly.

Sarkozy said that he felt "extremely worried" and demanded the air authorities to spare no efforts in searching the missing jet and found out the real reason behind it as quickly as possible.

Transport and environment ministers have been sent to monitor the situation at Charles de Gaulle airport.

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2009)