EgyptAir Flight From Paris To Cairo With 66 On Board Has Crashed Above Mediterranean
By Tyler Durden
Six months after an Airbis A321 operated by Russia’s Metrojet exploded shortly after takeoff from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula on route to St. Petersburg, killing all 224 people on board in what was likely an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack, overnight there has been another aircraft-related tragedy when overnight an EgyptAir flight carrying 66 passengers and crew on a flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean, Egypt’s national airline said. Officials said they believed the jet has come down in the Mediterranean sea. A search and rescue operation is currently underway and authorities have said that no scenario can be ruled out, including terrorism.
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.
EgyptAir said on its Twitter account that Flight MS804 had departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST). It disappeared at 02:30 a.m. at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 meters) in Egyptian air space, about 280 km (165 miles) from the Egyptian coast before it was due to land at 03:15 a.m..
An informed source at EGYPTAIR stated that Flight no MS804,which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST),heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar.
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 19, 2016
#MS804 operated by an Airbus A320-232 (SU-GCC), delivered in 2003. https://t.co/fXqqYNewe4 pic.twitter.com/f86WS4gGCR
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) May 19, 2016
The weather was clear at the time the plane disappeared, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic network. “Our daily weather assessment does not indicate any issues in that area at that time,” it said. Speed and altitude data from aviation website FlightRadar24.com indicated the plane was cruising at the time it disappeared.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said the search was underway to find the missing Airbus A320 and it was too early to rule out any explanation, including terrorism. Cited by Reuters, officials with the airline and the Egyptian civil aviation department told Reuters they believed the jet had crashed into the Mediterranean between Greece and Egypt.
.@EGYPTAIR stating #MS804 has “disappeared from radar”. FR24 flight track: https://t.co/6tH4GQzOWU pic.twitter.com/NteMuuFj1O
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) May 19, 2016
It is as of this moment unclear whether the disappearance was due to technical failure or any other reason such as sabotage by ultra-hardline Islamists, who have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.
“There was nothing unusual,” EgyptAir vice chairman Ahmed Adel told Reuters. “The search and rescue aircraft from the Egyptian air force are at the position where we lost contact. They are still looking and so far there is nothing found.”
According to Reuters, the aircraft was carrying 56 passengers – with one child and two infants among them – and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries. “The theory …read more
Source: EgyptAir Flight From Paris To Cairo With 66 On Board Has Crashed Above Mediterranean
