"An Air France official says the airline has lost contact with a plane carrying 228 people from Brazil to Paris," the Associated Press reports.

AP continues:

Air France spokeswoman Brigitte Barrand says, "Air France regrets to announce that it is without news from Air France flight 447 flying from Rio to Paris."

She said Monday the flight was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew members.

Brazil's air force said a search began Monday morning near the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha.

The plane disappeared about 186 miles northeast of the coastal Brazilian city of Natal and near Fernando de Noronha, the spokesman said.

Be sure to click your "refresh" button often to see our latest updates.

Update at 12:40 p.m. ET: Air France says there is "no hope" for the missing plane.

Update at 9:40 a.m. ET. On Morning Edition a moment ago, NPR's Eleanor Beardsley told co-host Renee Montagne that French authorities now suspect the plane might have gone down off the coast of West Africa.

Eleanor also said that Air France officials say the plane sent "some sort of an automatic message ... reporting an electrical short-circuit."

Update at 9:05 a.m. ET. NPR's Eleanor Beardsley files this report from Paris:

Update at 8:40 a.m. ET. Aviation analyst speculates about "something catastrophic":

"The conclusion to be drawn is that something catastrophic happened on board that has caused this airplane to ditch in a controlled or an uncontrolled fashion," Jane's Aviation analyst Chris Yates has told the AP.

"I would suggest that potentially it went down very quickly and so quickly that the pilot on board didn't have a chance to make that emergency call," Yates added.

Update 8:09 a.m. ET: Air France's statement (in French) is here.

Update at 8 a.m. ET: Various news media are reporting the plane is an Airbus A330-200.

Update at 7:57 a.m. ET. "Long, sad story"?

"It's going to take a long time to carry out this search," Douglas Ferreira Machado, head of investigation and accident prevention for Brazil's Civil Aeronautics Agency, or ANAC, told Globo, the AP reports. "It could be a long, sad story. The black box will be at the bottom of the sea."

Update at 7:52 a.m. ET. The BBC says that:

France's minister in charge of transport, Jean-Louis Borloo, said there was a "real pessimism at this hour" about the fate of the aircraft.

"We can fear the worst," he said on Europe-1 radio.

Update at 7:43 a.m. ET. This "alert" just moved on the Reuters wire:

Air France says plane sent message that it had electrical short-circuit after strong turbulence.

Update at 7:40 a.m. ET. Reuters is reporting that the jet:

Disappeared from Brazilian radar at around 10.30 p.m. local time on Sunday after about three to 3 1/2 hours of flight, a government source said.

Update at 7:05 a.m. ET. The BBC writes that:

Brazilian air force spokesman Col Henry Munhoz told Brazilian TV it had failed to be picked up by radar on the Cape Verde Islands on its way across the Atlantic.

"Air Force planes left Fernando de Noronha and are flying towards Europe to start the search for the missing plane," he said.

Update at 7 a.m. ET: CNN.com reports that "Air France told CNN the jet was traveling from Rio de Janeiro to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris when contact was lost."