A PLANE that crashed into the ocean, killing everyone on board, including a North Yorkshire businessman, plummeted at a rate of 180ft per second, an accident report has revealed.

All 228 people on the Paris-bound Air France flight 447 were killed, including father-of-three Arthur Coakley, from Sandsend, near Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Mr Coakley, who was 61 and a director at Middlesbrough-based Wilton Engineering Services, was one of five Britons on board the doomed Airbus A330, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, after its engines stalled and it lost speed.

French air accident investigation body, the BEA, said the descent lasted about three-and-a-half minutes.

Preliminary findings were released yesterday, ahead of a full report expected later this year.

The report showed the captain had left the cockpit to rest, about ten minutes before the first warning light came on.

Several attempts were made, by the two co-pilots, to call the captain back.

During efforts to control the plane, one of the co-pilots indicated that the aircraft was approaching an altitude of 10,000ft.

Less than three minutes earlier, it had been at 35,000ft.

The BEA said the plane remained stalled throughout the descent, but that the engines were operating and responsive to commands.

Mr Coakley's widow, Patricia, said she would prefer not to comment on the BEA's findings until she had had a chance to digest them.

She confirmed she is preparing to take legal action against Air France.

Mrs Coakley said: "I think every person who had somebody on that flight has taken steps.

"You have to make a claim before two years have passed, so I have been working with the lawyers to ensure we meet that deadline."

Airbus, whose plane's wings are made in the UK, said: "The information released by the BEA is consistent with facts published in preliminary and interim reports.

"Airbus is committed to supporting the investigation, with the objective of identifying all potential lessons to be learnt.

"Airbus is confident that the successful recovery of the data contained by the flight recorder will help make air travel even safer."

The manufacturer repeated its condolences to the friends and families of the victims.