The former royalty of Brazil confirmed on Monday that a member of the family was on board the Air France Flight 447, which has been missing off the Brazilian coast, local media reported.

Pedro Luis de Orleans e Braganca, a "prince" of the former royal family, left Rio de Janeiro on Sunday evening on board the missing Air France flight, said the former royal family on Monday.

Pedro, 26, was on his way to Luxembourg where he lived after a visit to his family members in Brazil, said the report.

The imperial regime in Brazil was overthrown in 1889. The former royal family was stripped of privilege and its members and the royal descendants have become common citizens.

According to the press office of Rio municipality, director of the mayor's office Marcelo Parente and his wife, who were on vacation, were also aboard the missing plane.

Germany's Eric Heine, president of ThyssenKrupp's Companhia Siderurgica do Atlantico (TKCSA), a joint steel company with Brazil's Vale do Rio Doce, was also flying on the plane.

Other passengers on board include tyre manufacturer Michelin's president for South America and two managers, said local reports.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that chances of finding any survivors are "very slim" as the Air France airliner with 228 people on board vanished over the Atlantic Ocean.

The Air France Airbus A330-200, Flight 447, was probably hit by lightning and suffered an electrical failure while flying through an Atlantic storm, Air France said earlier in the day.

The airplane, bound for Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, lost contact with the control center shortly after its takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday at 7:00 PM (2200 GMT). It was expected to arrive in Paris on Monday at 11:15 AM local time (0915 GMT).

(Xinhua News Agency June 2, 2009)