National carrier EgyptAir said a plane carrying 69 passengers and crew on a flight from Paris to Cairo had gone missing on Thursday, disappearing from radar over the Mediterranean Sea and the airline officials believe it had crashed into the sea. Egypt's state newspaper Ahram reported that there had been no distress call from the plane and that the last contact with the pilot was about 10 minutes before the aircraft disappeared
Egyptian officials believe missing EgyptAir plane crashed into sea
“An official source at EgyptAir stated that Flight MS804, which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST), heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar,” the airline said on its official Twitter account.
59 commuters, 10 crew
Later Tweets by EgyptAir said the plane, which was travelling at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 metres), disappeared soon after entering Egyptian airspace. The Airbus A320 aircraft was carrying 59 passengers and 10 crewmembers, it said.
According to flightradar24.com, the plane's last known position was above the Mediterranean Sea.
Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said search and rescue teams were looking for the missing jet. A Ministry source also said technical information about the condition of the plane was being gathered.
Troops got a signal
Rescue services from the Egyptian armed forces reported receiving a distress signal at 04:26 am local time (0226 GMT) from the EgyptAir plane that went missing overnight, an official from the airline said in a statement.
The Airbus 320 disappeared from Egyptian air space almost two hours earlier, at 02:30 a.m., some 280 kms (165 miles) from the Egyptian coastline, according to EgyptAir. It had been due to land at 03:15 a.m.
The antique land
With its ancient archaeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a popular destination for Western tourists. But the industry was badly hit following the downing of a Russian jet last year, the ongoing Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb attacks in the country.
An Airbus A321 operated by Russia's Metrojet crashed in the Sinai on October 31, 2015, killing all 224 people on board. Russia and Western governments have said the plane was likely brought down by a bomb, and the Islamic State (IS) militant group said it had smuggled an explosive device on board.
It’s mechanic was kin of IS member
Reuters reported in January that an EgyptAir mechanic, whose cousin joined the Islamic State in Syria, is suspected of planting the bomb, according to sources familiar with the matter.
In March, an EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt. He was arrested after giving himself up.
EgyptAir has a fleet of 57 Airbus and Boeing jets, including 15 of the Airbus A320 family of aircraft, according to airfleets.com.
Last such incident was in May 2002
The last fatal incident involving an EgyptAir aircraft was in May 2002, when a Boeing 737 crashed into a hill while on approach to Tunis-Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.
In October 1999, the first officer of a Boeing 767 deliberately crashed the plane into the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, killing all 217 people on board.
France’s aviation authority could not be reached immediately for comment.
