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EgyptAir flight 804 disappears en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 on board EgyptAir Flight 804 disappears en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 on board
(about 2 hours later)
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 EgyptAir flight en route from Paris to Cairo has gone missing with 56 passengers and 10 crewmembers on board. While a search and rescue operation is under way, authorities and experts say no scenario can be ruled out, including terrorism.
LIVE UPDATES: Search for EgyptAir flight missing over MediterraneanLIVE UPDATES: Search for EgyptAir flight missing over Mediterranean
“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, an Airbus 320, left Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris at 11:09 p.m. local time (2109 GMT) on Wednesday and was expected to arrive in Cairo by 03:00 a.m. Thursday. A direct flight usually takes just over four hours. It went off radar screens just as it was leaving Greek airspace at 0230 GMT.
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 had crashed, and added 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.
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.
"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 possibility of a terrorist attack is more likely than a technical failure, Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said at a media conference in Cairo on Thursday.
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 Greek Defense Ministry, the plane made “sudden swerves” just before going off radar.
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. "At 03:39 a.m. the course of the aircraft was south and southeast of Kassos and Karpathos (islands). Immediately after it entered Cairo FIR and made swerves and a descent I describe 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right," Defense Minister Panos Kammenos told a news conference.
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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. EgyptAir has published information about the nationalities of the 56 passengers. It lists 30 Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis and one citizen each from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.
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. The Egyptian crew included two cockpit crew, five cabin crew and three security officers.
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. French and Egyptian authorities offered their assistance to family members of the passengers and crewmembers of the missing plane. EgyptAir provided a plane to fly relatives from France to Egypt, while an emergency center was opened at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
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. A search and rescue operation involving Egyptian, Greek and French military aircraft and ships and a number of civilian vessels is under way in the southern Mediterranean. Hours into the operation, the Greeks reportedly found two objects floating in the sea 50 miles southeast of the area where the plane dropped off radar.
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. 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.
According to previous statements from EgyptAir, no distress signal was recorded from the missing Flight MS804. In 2013, the missing A320 reportedly experienced engine failure, SkyNews Arabia said citing an Egyptian civil aviation source. At that time, the aircraft was scheduled to fly from Cairo to Istanbul, but had to return for an emergency landing. The airline said the plane was in good technical condition and passed all necessary checks.
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.
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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. Some media reports in Greece said a vessel witnessed a flash in the sky sometime around the moment of the plane’s disappearance, but the information could not be confirmed. Reports in Egypt said a distress call was received by the Egyptian military from the plane before it went missing, but the Egyptian authorities would not confirm them.
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. The crew on board the plane didn’t report to Greek traffic controllers any problems before leaving the Athens Flight Information Region. The Greek controllers said the pilot was in good humor and thanked them in Greek just as the plane was supposed to be handed over to their colleagues in Cairo.
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. 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 Cypriot police.
France has offered to full cooperate with Egypt to find the missing MS804, including utilizing military assets. Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport 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.
“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].”