2009: Crash of Air France Flight AF447

Before the MH370 went missing, the most recent case was that of Air France flight AF447. The flight carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro to Paris vanished over the Atlantic Ocean on June 1 2009, after a few hours in the air. On June 6 and 7, the Brazilian military found wreckage, and bodies of some of the passengers. But what exactly had happened remained unknown until two years later when two black box recorders were found. In June 2012 French investigators issued their final report: ice crystals had obstructed air speed gauges in the aircraft, causing the autopilot to disconnect. The crew reacted incorrectly and the plane plunged into the ocean. All 228 passengers on board died.

A mechanical arm, seen in this image published on the web site of France's BEA air accident inquiry office May 1, 2011, holds an orange cylindrical flight data recorder above the sand. Deep sea search parties have found one of two flight data recorders from an Air France flight that crashed off the coast of Brazil in 2009, reviving hopes of understanding what caused the crash. French investigators said in a statement that the flight data recorder, or black box, had been fished up at 1000 GMT and hauled up to the deck of a search boat later in the day. [Photo/Xinhua,Agencies]

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