EgyptAir flight 804 travelling from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar with 56 passengers and 10 crew members on board, the airline has said.
French President Francois Hollande said in a televised address that the plane had crashed early on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, the Associated Press news agency quoted anonymous Egyptian aviation officials as also saying the flight ended in the Mediterranean Sea.
The officials said the “possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed,” and the search is now underway for the debris, according to the news agency.
But, Egypt’s civil aviation ministry later said in a statement that it was too early to confirm if the passenger plane has crashed.
According to EgyptAir, the plane took off from Paris’ Charles De Gaulle Airport shortly after 11pm local time.
“At 4:26am, rescue teams affiliated with the Egyptian armed forces have received an SOS message from the emergency unit of the missing plane,” the airline said in a tweet. However, Egyptian army later denied detecting a distress signal from the missing plane, according to AFP news agency.
The Airbus A320 was flying at 37,000 feet when it disappeared 16km after entering Egyptian airspace, the airline said.
Egypt and Greece have launched maritime searches for missing flight, the Egyptian Army said.
Greece is deploying military aircraft and a frigate to an area in the southern Mediterranean its defence ministry said.
The search for the missing EgyptAir plane was taking place at sea, about 130 nautical miles southeast of the island of Karpathos, the Greek defence ministry told Reuters news agency.
“One C-130 aircraft and an early-warning EMB-145H plane are already operating in the area. Another C-130 plane is on standby at Kasteli airport on the (southern Greek) island of Crete,” Greece’s military command said.
A defence ministry source said authorities were also investigating an account from the captain of a merchant ship who reported seeing a “flame in the sky” in the area.
EgyptAir has also published a list of passengers on board by nationality: 30 Egyptian nationals, 15 French, two Iraqis, one British, one Belgian, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Algerian, one Canadian, one Saudi and one Kuwaiti were on board, the airline said.
Three of those on board were children, including one infant, and three of the crew members were security personnel, EgyptAir reported.
‘Sharing the anguish’
The French government held an emergency meeting at 06:30 GMT to discuss the plane’s disappearance, the French President Francois Hollande’s office said.
“The President talked to Egyptian President Sisi about the disappearance of the EgyptAir flight between Paris and Cairo. They agreed to cooperate closely to establish the circumstances of the disappearance as soon as possible,” a press release from the Elysee Palace stated.
“The President shares the anguish of the families affected by this tragedy.”
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said France is ready to join the search operation if Egyptian authorities request it.
Speaking on RTL radio, Valls said the Paris airport authority has opened a crisis center to support the families coming to Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Aviation experts said the plane probably lost contact with ground radar above the Mediterranean Sea.
“Apparently it was just short of Egyptian airspace, so it was likely over the Mediterranean, because the Greek airspace joins the Egyptian airspace around that area,” aviation safety consultant Keith Mackey told Al Jazeera. “So that is probably where they will be looking.”
“Egypt air should know exactly where the plane disappeared from radar,” he said, “That would be the point where you begin your search. And it’s very likely that that point is over the Mediterranean.
“As day light comes, no doubt they will have airplanes and ships searching the area. If it crashed, it should not take long to find it in that area. When a plane disappears suddenly like this you certainly cannot rule out terrorism or an explosion onboard the aircraft,” Mackey said.
This is not the first air-safety crisis Egypt has faced recently.
In March, a domestic EgyptAir flight was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus.
On October 31 last year, Russia-bound Metrojet Flight 9268, operated by Russian airline Kogalymavia, crashed in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt , killing all 224 people on board.
Aljazeera
An EgyptAir Airbus A320 en route from Paris to Cairo has gone missing with 56 passengers and 10 crew members on board. While a search and rescue operation is underway, authorities and experts say no scenario can be ruled out, including terrorism.
An informed source at EGYPTAIR stated that Flight No. MS804, which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST), heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar,” the airline said on its Twitter.
Flight MS804 left Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11:09pm local time (21:09 GMT) on Wednesday Paris time and was expected to arrive in Cairo by 3am on Thursday. A direct flight usually takes just over four hours.
French President Francois Hollande confirmed that the missing plane crashed and that “no hypothesis” could be ruled out on the causes of the incident. Speaking in a televised address, he offered “solidarity” with the families of those on board.
“It could be a terrorist hypothesis but at this stage we should express our solidarity to the families and to find out the cause of the catastrophe,” Hollande said.
The airport Flight MS804 departed from, Charles de Gaulle, has seen hundreds of flights to, from and over Paris canceled due to a massive strike by air traffic controllers and ground staff. They are taking part in a nationwide strike to protest the new labor reform proposed by the French government that takes away workers’ rights.
According to the latest update from EgyptAir, Flight MS804 lost contact with radar above the Mediterranean about 280km (175 miles) from the Egyptian seacoast at 2:30am Cairo time (00:30 GMT), when the Airbus A320 was at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,300 meters). The flight was expected to land at Cairo airport at 3:15am.
This information is at variance with previous reports from the airline, which stated that the last-known radio contact with the plane was from about 50km north of the Egyptian coastline.
Conflicting reports have emerged as to the number of people on board. Ahmed Abdel, Egypt Air’s vice-chairman said in an interview with CNN that there were 56 passengers, three security personnel, two cockpit crew members, and five cabin staff on board – 66 people in total – contradicting previous claims.
EgyptAir has published information about the nationalities of the 56 passengers. It lists 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis and one each from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.
The Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry has said an Egyptian military unit received a distress call from the aircraft at 4:26am Cairo time, according to Reuters.
EgyptAir tweeted that the aircraft’s emergency device (possibly an emergency transmitter or beacon) sent a distress signal that was received at 4:26am, some two hours after the previously-stated last radar contact.
According to previous statements from EgyptAir, no distress signal was recorded from the missing Flight MS804.
EgyptAir confirmed that all authorities have been informed of the missing plane, which disappeared near Greece. Rescue efforts are underway.
Egyptian rescue teams are reportedly working with their Greek counterparts to locate the plane.
One C-130 and one early-warning aircraft from the Hellenic Air Force have been dispatched by Greece for search and rescue efforts, AP reported, citing a Greek Defense Ministry source. There is a frigate also heading to the area and helicopters on standby on the southern island of Karpathos, the source added.
EgyptAir described the captain of the plane as experienced, with over 6,275 flying hours, including 2,101 hours flying Airbus 320s, while his co-pilot has 2,766 hours. The aircraft was manufactured in 2003. Airbus said it was aware of the missing A320 but provided no further details on MS804.
In 2013, the missing A320 reportedly experienced engine failure, SkyNews Arabia cited an Egyptian civil aviation source as saying. At that time, the aircraft was scheduled to fly from Cairo to Istanbul, but had to return for an emergency landing.
In March, an EgyptAir domestic flight MS181 from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked in mid-air by one of the passengers and diverted to Larnaca, Cyprus, with 81 people on board. After a six-hour standoff, the hijacker, Seif Eldin Mustafa, released the passengers and crew, and surrendered to the Cypriot police.
France has offered to full cooperate with Egypt to find the missing MS804, including utilizing military assets.
“Everything must be done to find the plane, that’s why we’re in contact with the Egyptian authorities. We are mobilizing and ready to send our military means, planes and boats, to search for this plane,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Manuel Valls added that no scenario could be ruled out so far, as the investigation is yet to begin.
Commenting on the possible circumstances of the plane’s disappearance, an Australia-based civil aviation expert, Geoffrey Thomas, told RT: “The security situation at Charles de Gaulle [Airport in Paris] is very good. However, the one thing what the industry does fear is the ‘inside job’ when you have an airport worker who might be associated with some groups.
“There’s always a possibility that something is smuggled on board.”
He added that search and rescue efforts might be complicated by the need to recover “a lot of debris on the surface [which are] very difficult to spot, depending on the [state of the sea].”
Egypt’s Foreign Ministry has exchanged condolences with France on Thursday over what it called the “fall” of an EgyptAir flight carrying 66 people from Paris to Cairo, Reuters reported.
The statement was the first official admission that those on board are likely to have died.
RT News
An Egyptair Airbus A320-200, registration SU-GCC performing flight MS-804 (dep May 18th) from Paris Charles de Gaulle (France) to Cairo (Egypt) with 56 passengers and 10 crew, was enroute at FL370 over the Mediterranan Sea about 130nm north of Alexandria (Egypt) and about 210nm northnorthwest of Cairo when the transponder signals of the aircraft ceased at 02:33L (00:33Z). The aircraft is presumed crashed in the Mediterranean Sea.
The airline reported at 05:00L (03:00Z), that flight MS-804, estimated to land in Cairo at 03:10L (01:10Z), is missing and so far has not landed at any airport in reach of the aircraft. Egyptair subsequently tweeted that the aircraft was enroute at FL370 about to enter Egyptian Airspace when radar contact with the aircraft was lost at 02:45L (00:45Z). A search and rescue operation has been launched. The airline further corrected initial statement of 59 passengers to 56 passengers actually on board of the aircraft. The commander had accumulated 6,275 hours with 2,101 hours on type, the first officer has accumulated 2,675 hours. The aircraft had been manufactured in 2003. The airline has opened hotlines for relatives at +202 25989320 (outside Egypt) and 080077770000 (landline in Egypt).
At about 07:40L (05:40Z) Egyptair updated their statement saying, that the contact with the aircraft was lost 280km (151nm) from the Coast of Egypt at 02:30L (00:30Z). The crew comprised the captain, first officer, 5 cabin crew and 3 sky marshals. Amongst the passengers there were 30 Egyptians, 15 French, 2 Iraqis, 1 British, 1 Belgian, 1 Kuwaiti, 1 Saudi, 1 Sudanese, 1 Chadian, 1 Portugese, 1 Algerian and 1 Canadian.
Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority reported radar contact with the aircraft was lost about 2 minutes after the aircraft was handed off from Greek to Egyptian Air Traffic Control. The crew did not report any problems up to hand off.
At 08:25L (06:25Z) Egypt Air reported that search and rescue have picked up an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal. Dawn in the area was at 04:26L.
France is joining the search and rescue efforts dispatching ships and aircraft into the search area, which is already being scanned by Greek and Egypt aircraft and ships.
At 10:15L (08:15Z) Airbus posted “Airbus regrets to confirm that an A320 operated by Egyptair was lost at around 02:30 am (Egypt local time) today over the Mediterranean sea. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight MS 804 from Paris, France to Cairo, Egypt. The aircraft involved, registered under SU-GCC was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 2088 delivered to Egyptair from the production line in November 2003. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 48,000 flight hours. It was powered by IAE engines. At this time no further factual information is available.”
A good number of civilian ships in the area have, according to MarineTraffic, veered off their intended courses and are now steaming towards a common position at approximately N33.4 E29.7 approximately 30nm eastnortheast of the last ADS-B position. A first ship “Oceanus” has already reached that position and is nearly stationary there.
At 12:30L (10:30Z) France’s President Hollande announced that the aircraft has crashed while flying over the Mediterranean Sea in Egyptian Airspace.
The Aviation Herald
EgyptAir flight disappears over the Mediterranean
