THOSE searching for an Air France jet which went missing with 228 people aboard have found debris in the ocean.

THOSE searching for an Air France jet which went missing with 228 people aboard have found debris in the ocean.

Plane seats and other items were sighted 400 miles north-east of Brazil's Fernando do Noronha island, the Brazilian air force said.

They said it was too early to confirm whether the debris is the wreckage of the missing plane.

It also emerged today that an 11-year-old prep school pupil was among the five Britons on the airliner which vanished over the Atlantic.

Alexander Bjoroy, who attended Clifton College preparatory school in Bristol, was one of those aboard the missing Airbus A330 aircraft.

Experts say it is by no means certain that the plane, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, was struck by lightning.

Three Irish women, all in their 20s, were also on the plane, which had 12 crew.

The 216 passengers included a baby and seven children.

French maritime patrol planes took off from Senegal this morning to look for sings of the lost airliner. Brazilian air force planes have been searching the Atlantic since yesterday.

John Milne, headmaster of Clifton College, said: “Alexander was returning to England from his half-term break.

“Alexander joined the prep school in January 2009 and was a well-liked and respected boarder who will be sorely missed by his fellow pupils and staff.”

The aircraft had run into stormy weather with strong turbulence around four hours into the flight which had left Rio at around 11pm UK time on Sunday.

About 15 minutes after the turbulence message, an automatic message was received from the plane - AF447 - indicating a failure in the electrical circuit.