Air France said on Monday its Airbus A330-200 plane, flight 447 was lost amid strong thunderstorms and lightning as it flew across the Atlantic Ocean.

It is possible that the plane was hit by lightning, Chief Air France spokesman Francois Brousse said and may be the greatest loss of the company’s history if no survivors are found. The company expresses its deepest sympathy.

Brazil's Air Force said the last contact it had with the Air France jet was at 9:30 p.m. ET Sunday, but did not say where the plane was at that time.

It crossed through a thunderous zone with strong turbulence at 10 p.m. ET Sunday or 2:00 a.m Universal time. An automatic message was received fourteen minutes later signaling electrical circuit malfunction.

The said missing plane left Brazil to Charles de Gaulle on Sunday May 31, at 7 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. ET, with 216 passengers and 12 crewmembers on board. It had General Electric CF6-80E powered engines, the company said, and supposed to arrive in Paris at 5:15 a.m. ET, according to the airport reports.

Meanwhile shares of Air France rose to $0.15 to 0.95% at $16 in the regular trading.