Worst Commercial Air Accident

Air France has told families of passengers on Flight 447 that the jetliner broke apart and they must abandon hope that anyone survived.

The plane broke apart either in the air or when it slammed into the ocean, carrying 228 people disappeared after leaving Rio de Janeiro for Paris on Sunday night.

Investigators were relying heavily on the plane's automated messages to help reconstruct what happened to the jet as it flew through towering thunderstorms. The messages detail a series of failures that end with its systems shutting down, suggesting the plane broke apart in the sky according to an aviation industry official with knowledge of the investigation.

Air France is the deadliest plane crash, and world's worst commercial air accident since 2001.