THE crew piloting a doomed Air France jet over the Atlantic did not realise the plane was in a stall, were insufficiently trained in flying manually, and never informed the passengers that anything was wrong before they plunged into the sea.

Malfunctioning equipment on at least a dozen recent flights by US passenger jets made it impossible for pilots to know how fast they were flying, investigators have discovered.

THE lightning and turbulence that may have hit an Air France jet flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris are rarely the cause of plane crashes, analysts say.

THREE young Irish women onboard the Air France airliner which vanished over the Atlantic Ocean were best friends who were forging out promising careers as doctors, it emerged tonight.