Seven missing after New Zealand jet plunges into Mediterranean

Rescuers found the body of one crew member but six others were missing Thursday after an Air New Zealand passenger jet plunged into the Mediterranean Sea off France, officials said.

The wreck of the Airbus A320 has been located off the southern city of Perpignan, where it had been undergoing maintenance and from where it had taken off, but there was no sign of any of the six missing crew.

The plane was on a flight to check that it was operating normally when it fell from the sky, said officials in Perpignan.

A major rescue operation was underway, with a surveillance plane, two rescue helicopters and five ships scouring the seas around the crash site 3.5 nautical miles (2.5 kilometres) from the shore.

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