LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- The mysterious disappearance of Flight AF 447 over the Atlantic Ocean has fueled speculation among aviation experts about what caused the state-of-the-art airliner to come down . An airliner is struck by lightning strike at Washington 's Dulles airport last year . According to Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon , the Airbus A330-200 encountered heavy turbulence about 02:15 a.m. local time Monday ( 10:15 p.m . ET Sunday ) , three hours after the jet carrying 228 people left Rio de Janeiro , Brazil , for Paris , France . At that point , the plane 's automatic system initiated a four-minute exchange of messages to the company 's maintenance computers , indicating `` several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down . '' The jet , which was flying at 35,000 feet and at 521 mph , also sent a warning that it had lost pressure , the Brazilian air force said . Its last known contact occurred at 02:33 a.m. , the Brazilian air force spokesman added . The assumption is that these electrical problems led to a catastrophic failure of the aircraft 's controls . What brought Flight AF 447 down ? » . Some experts have said that a lightning strike was a possibility , particularly since the plane disappeared in a storm-prone area along the equator known as the Intertropical Convergence zone ( ITCZ ) . This is where the trade winds of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres converge . The intense sun and warm water of the equator heats the air in the ITCZ , raising its humidity and making it buoyant . Aided by the convergence of the trade winds , the buoyant air rises , releasing the accumulated moisture in an almost constant series of thunderstorms . The airliner 's route » . According to CNN 's Mari Ramos , these storms can reach altitudes of 52,000 ft -- way beyond the capacity of commercial airliners to fly over . Watch more about the weather systems » . Retired airline pilot John Cox told CNN that modern aircraft receive a constant stream of real time weather data which allows them to plot a course around storms . `` Because safety is the paramount concern , airliners do n't fly into storms . They fly around them , '' he said . `` The ITCZ is no different . Planes fly through it every day . `` At 8 miles per minute , modern jets can easily fly around storms . Even if they encounter turbulence , they 're designed to absorb it . '' When lightning strikes a plane , the bolt typically hits a sharp part of it , such as a wing tip . Huge amounts of energy surge through the aircraft before exiting out of another sharp point , such as the tail . But sometimes high voltages can cause electrical damage if components are not well-grounded . Unlike other aircraft where the pilot 's controls are manually attached to the flaps and rudders , Airbus 330 airliners are equipped with a `` fly by wire '' system that sends electronic signals from an onboard computer to move key control surfaces . Experts say that it is possible for this system and its back-up computers to be disabled by lightning . `` If you have a massive electrical problem it 's possible that you could cut off all the commands out to the control surfaces , '' said aeronautics expert John Hansman . However , Kieran Daly , from the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence , told CNN that this scenario , while not impossible , is inconceivable . `` It 's more likely that lightning would cause a fire or punch a hole through the aircraft structure , '' he said . `` It could be significant that the jet reported a loss of pressure . '' He added that the aircraft would be able to continue without the fly-by-wire system . The `` trim tab , '' which enables the pilot to manually manipulate controls such as the rudder , would allow the crew to fly the aircraft safely . `` Pilots are routinely trained for these kinds of events in a simulator , '' he said . Former Airbus pilot John Wiley said on average every airliner is hit by a strike once a year . `` They do n't go down , '' he said . According to Air France , the captain of Flight AF 447 had a record of 11,000 flight hours and had already flown 1,700 hours on Airbus A330/A340 aircraft . Of the two first officers , one had flown 3,000 flight hours ( 800 of which on the Airbus A330/A340 ) and the other 6,600 ( 2,600 on the Airbus A330/A340 ) . The aircraft had totaled 18,870 flight hours and went into service on 18 April 2005 . Its last maintenance check in the hangar took place on 16 April 2009 .
Air France Airbus A330-200 encountered heavy turbulence . The plane was flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris when it lost contact with air traffic controllers at around 1:30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT). Some experts have said that a lightning strike was a possible cause . Flight 447 , traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Paris , was carrying 228 people .