EgyptAir flight made ‘sudden swerves’ before dropping off radar
An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar with 56 passengers, seven crew and three security staff on board.
Flight MS804, an Airbus A320, was flying over the eastern Mediterranean at 37,000ft when it lost contact with radar at 02:45 Cairo time (00:45 GMT).
Greece’s defence minister Panos Kammenos told a press conference the plane made ‘sudden swerves’ before dropping off radar over the Mediterranean.
He said the aircraft had turned 90 degrees to the left and 360 degrees to the right before plunging.
EgyptAir said passengers on board included 30 Egyptians, 15 French citizens, one Briton, as well as others from Belgium, Algeria, Sudan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Chad and Portugal.
There were two babies and one child on board.
Egyptian armed forces search and rescue teams were deployed and have since been joined by Greek and French teams.
The search effort is focused on an area 130 miles from the Greek island of Karpathos.
Some news outlets are quoting French officials as saying they cannot rule out a terror attack but EgyptAir issued a statement denying all ‘misleading information’ published by news websites and social media channels regarding the reasons for the disappearance.
"The reason of disappearance hasn’t been yet confirmed," it added.
At a later press briefing, French President Francois Hollande confirmed the plane had crashed, although no debris has been found.
"The information we have gathered – ministers, members of government and, of course, the Egyptian authorities – confirm sadly that it has crashed. It is lost," he said
The flight from Charles de Gaulle was due to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:00 local time on Thursday.
EgyptAir said a crisis centre has been set up near to Cairo Airport for the passengers’ families and it has provided doctors, translators and all the necessary services.
Support has also been provided for relatives of passengers at Charles de Gaulle Airport, where the flight had departed.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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