AFP reports at AFP: Air France flight vanishes after multiple breakdowns
A succession of a dozen technical messages" sent by the aircraft around 0215 GMT showed that "several electrical systems had broken down" which caused a totally unprecedented situation in the plane," said Pierre-Henry Gourgeon.
"It is probable that it was shortly after these messages that the impact in the Atlantic came," he told reporters at Charles de Gaulle airport where the flight was meant to have landed on Monday morning.
And Daily Kos relates at Daily Kos: Air France Flight 447 presumed lost in Atlantic (UPDATED 2X) :
CNN quotes Gourgeon about what may be Flight 447's last moments before it lost contact.
The first three hours of what was to have been an 11-hour flight appear to have been uneventful, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said.
But about 4:15 a.m. Paris time, Flight 447's automatic system began a four-minute exchange of messages to the company's maintenance computers, indicating that "several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down," he said.
"This succession of messages signals a totally unforeseeable, great difficulty," he said. "Something quite new within the plane."
During that time, there was no contact with the crew, Gourgeon said.
"It was probable that it was a little bit after those messages that the impact of the plane took place in the Atlantic," he added.
I obviously don't know if this is accurate, but 12 messages over 4 minutes would seem to relate a lot more than we've heard so far.