(The copyright for this photo belongs to Eric van deVloete).
Prince Pedro Luiz of Orleans-Braganza, 26, was on board Air France Flight 447, bound from Rio to Paris, that apparently crashed into the Atlantic in the late hours of May 31.
Prince Pedro Luíz Maria José Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga was born at Rio de Janeiro on January 12, 1983, the eldest son of Prince Antonio and his wife, the former Princess Christine de Ligne. This marriage was considered equal, Princess Christine is the daughter of Princess Alix of Luxembourg. He was third in line in the succession to the former Brazilian throne, after his uncles Luiz, who is the head of the house, Bertrand, and his father, Antonio.
The prince, who worked for BNP-Paribas, a bank in Luxembourg, was returning there after spending some time with his family in Sao Paulo.
"He came to visit his family, and now he is missing," said Pedro's uncle, Dom Francisco de Orleans-Braganca.
The head of the Brazilian royal family is Pedro's uncle, Luiz Gastao, who was born in 1938. Dom Luiz Gastao is unmarried, as Dom Bertrand, his brother, who is the heir apparent, although it is understood that the succession would eventually devolve on Dom Antonio, and his family.
Dom Pedro is survived by his parents, and his three siblings, Amelia, Rafael and Maria Gabriela.
The prince's cousin, Princess Alix de Ligne, was also planning to take that flight, but decided to leave on a later flight to Paris. Alix and Pedro are actually double cousins as Princess Alix's father, Michel, the Prince of Ligne, is married to Princess Leonor (Eleonore) of Orleans-Braganca, whose brother, Dom Antonio, is married to Michel's sister, Princess Christine.
On Monday, the family confirmed that Prince Pedro Luis was on the flight. Brazil's defense minister confirmed on Tuesday that the plane had crashed into the Atlantic as the wreckage found in the area has been determined to be from the Air France flight. There were no survivors.
http://oglobo.globo.com/mundo/mat/2009/06/01/familia-orleans-braganca-confirma-que-principe-brasileiro-estava-no-voo-da-air-france-756129731.asp
http://www.adn.es/sociedad/20090601/NWS-2237-Cuarto-desaparecido-brasileno-sucesion-estaba.html
Air crashes are awful.
ReplyDeleteI understand that Marlene is writing the story of the Luxembourg Royal Family.
The De Ligne family and thus Prince Pedro Luiz are descendants. The Luxembourg family and their descendants have always seemed so close
So sad.
yes, I am at work on a book on the descendants of Grand Duke Adolphe.
ReplyDeleteThe family has not confirmed the prince's death, Marlene. They have only confirmed that he was aboard the airplane.
ReplyDeleteConfirming that he was on the plane is the same as confirming he is deceased as the plane did not arrive at its destination, and plane parts are now showing up in the area where the last communications were made.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Marlene. Until wreckage is found, no-one is officially dead. And now they've found some in the ocean.
ReplyDelete"Because until they find it, no-one can talk with any authority about what really happened to Flight 447."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8078203.stm
But there seem to me some contradictions:
'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.
'He said the Airbus A330 was probably closer to Brazil than to Africa when it crashed.
'He noted that turbulence made flying "difficult" in the area but that it is "too early to say" exactly what happened." '
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/01/air.france.brazil/index.html
How does he know what happened when he doesn't know what happened?
Air France did not see those messages right away, actually, as the messages were electronic, rather than from the crew. They were four hours out of Rio .. and apparently about to enter Sengalese air space, but there is a time period when flying over the Atlantic that pilots are not able to contact anyone -- it's black hole in the middle of nowhere. It is not as bad when flying from North America to Europe because you have the East Coast - Greenland, Iceland, etc. Flying from South America to Europe is different because there is more open ocean - and fewer countries.
ReplyDeleteAir France did not see those messages right away, actually, as the messages were electronic, rather than from the crew. They were four hours out of Rio .. and apparently about to enter Sengalese air space, but there is a time period when flying over the Atlantic that pilots are not able to contact anyone -- it's black hole in the middle of nowhere. It is not as bad when flying from North America to Europe because you have the East Coast - Greenland, Iceland, etc. Flying from South America to Europe is different because there is more open ocean - and fewer countries.
ReplyDeleteOnly 26 yrs.May he and all the victims Rest in Peace...
ReplyDelete