Egypt Crash Wreckage

Egypt says the disappearance of EgyptAir passenger jet is more likely a terrorist act than a technical fault.

15:22 20 May 2016

Flight MS804 was travelling from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared over the Mediterranean early on Thursday. According to Greece’s defence minister, the radar showed the Airbus A320, which was carrying 66 crew and passengers, made two sharp turns and dropped more than 25,000ft before plunging into the sea.

 

A major search operation is underway near the Greek island of Karpathos. So far, no wreckage or debris from the airport has been found, contrary to initial reports.

 

The majority of passengers on board were from Egypt and France. A Briton was also among the passengers.

 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered an investigation into the causes of the disappearance. He also ordered the country’s civil aviation ministry, search-and-rescue centre, navy and air force to take all necessary measures to locate the wreckage.

 

Flight MS804 left at 23:09 local time on Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive in Cairo about 03:15 on Thursday. Greek aviation officials confirmed that air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot when the plane entered Greek airspace. At 02:27, as the plane was set to enter Egyptian airspace, the pilot did not respond despite repeated calls. It vanished from radar two minutes later.

 

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told reporters: "The picture we have at the moment on the accident as it emerges from the Greek air force operations centre is that the aircraft was approximately 10-15 miles inside the Egyptian FIR [flight information region] and at an altitude of 37,000 feet.

 

"It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward the right, dropping from 37,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet."

 

Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi said: "Let's not try to jump to the side that is trying to identify this as a technical failure - on the contrary.

 

"If you analyse the situation properly, the possibility of having a different action, or having a terror attack, is higher than the possibility of having a technical [fault]."