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.

An Air France jet missing with 228 people - including three Irish citizens - on board ran into a towering wall of thunderstorms over the Atlantic Ocean, officials said tonight.