A FORMER pupil at a Ludlow school and his mother were passengers on the Air France airliner that went missing over the Atlantic Ocean last week.

Andras Szavas, aged seven, and his mother Rita, 31, were on the flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris which crashed into the sea in the early hours of Monday morning, June 1.

They were among 228 people who are believed to have died in the mystery accident.

Andras was a pupil at Sandpits Infants School, where pupils and teachers have said prayers for the victims and their families and friends during assembly.

He returned to his home in Hungary last year but paid a return visit to the school last Christmas. Andras, who is believed to have family living in the Ludlow area, was described as a popular pupil at the school in Sandpits Road.

“It was such a tragic incident but to have people involved whom we know makes it all the more difficult,” said a statement in the school newsletter.

It is reported that Andras’ mother worked as a therapist at the world famous Peto Institute of Conductive Education in Budapest, as well as at the Conductive Learning Centre in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.

The family are believed to have been returning home to Hungary via Paris on the lost airliner.

After a search lasting several days, wreckage and some bodies have been found and it is thought highly unlikely that anyone could have survived the crash.

Experts are still trying to piece together what happened to the Airbus 330 aircraft. The twin engine aircraft is one of the most popular wide bodied jets and is flown by airlines throughout the world.

The Airbus 330 is built at Toulouse in the south of France and entered commercial service in 1994. There are more than 600 of this type of airliner in service and it has an excellent safety record.

The downed aircraft made its first flight in 2005 and was repaired after suffering minor damage in a ground collision the following year. It had undergone a major overhaul in April this year.

It is hoped that the aircraft’s black box and voice recorders can be recovered as they will contain vital clues as to what happened.

On theory being considered is that the aircraft was struck by lightning or went down in a violent storm.