EgyptAir flight MS804 disappears from radar between Paris and Cairo

[hockey.modern]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/liv...s-live-updates

EgyptAir flight MS804 disappears from radar between Paris and Cairo – live updates
Airline says plane, which took off from France’s Charles de Gaulle airport late on Wednesday night, has gone missing with 66 people on board

Fears for missing EgyptAir flight 804 with 66 people on board

Greece has joined the search and rescue operation for the EgyptAir flight, Associated Press reports.

Two aircraft, one C-130 Hercules and one early warning aircraft, have been dispatched, officials at the Hellenic national defence general staff said.

They said one frigate was also heading to the area, and helicopters are on standby on the southern island of Karpathos for potential rescue or recovery operations.

Updated at 6.09am BST
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8m ago 06:03
Airbus, the manufacturer of the missing A320 aircraft, says it has “no further details” on MS804, but will issue a statement later:

— Airbus (@Airbus)
May 19, 2016
We are aware of media reports. At this time we have no further details, but we will provide further information when available.

As Europe wakes to news of the missing flight, here is what we know at this point, four hours after the plane lost contact:

Flight MS804, en route from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Cairo, has disappeared from radar.

The plane, an Airbus A320, left Paris at 11.09pm on Wednesday night (21.09 GMT/22.09 BST/07.09am Thursday AEST).

The airline said contact was lost around 16km/10 miles inside Egyptian airspace at 2.45am local time (00.45 GMT/01.45 BST/10.45 AEST).

The plane was carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew: two cockpit crew, five cabin crew and three security personnel. The airline said two babies and one child were on board.
Search and rescue efforts are underway at the site where contact was lost, around 50-65km (30-40 miles) north of Egypt’s coast.

The plane, on its fifth journey of the day, was travelling at 37,000 feet when it disappeared from radar.

EgyptAir says the captain has 6,275 flying hours, including 2,101 on the A320; the copilot has 2,766. The plane was manufactured in 2003.

There is no detail yet on possible reasons for the plane’s disappearance.

[driveway]

EgyptAir reporting one Canadian was aboard.

Last known position:

[Fozzie_DeBear]

****

[Bagor]

Literally a couple of minutes inside Egyptian airspace before it disappeared,

[driveway]

There is a video - unconfirmed - purportedly shot from a Greek island, of a fireball in the night sky at about the time MS804 disappeared from radar.

No emergency squawks were recorded by flightradar24

CNN is reporting a distress signal having been detected in the vicinity of where the flight went off radar.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by driveway

There is a video - unconfirmed - purportedly shot from a Greek island, of a fireball in the night sky at about the time MS804 disappeared from radar.

No emergency squawks were recorded by flightradar24

CNN is reporting a distress signal having been detected in the vicinity of where the flight went off radar.

I think the closest Greek Island to it's last known location is about 200 miles away, that would be a hell of a fireball.

Reddit has this video.

[Tsawwassen]

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the aircraft was 16-25 to kilometres inside the Egyptian area and at an altitude of 37,000 feet. He says: "It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360 degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet," he said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/egyptair-flight-ms804-paris-cairo-1.3588755

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Literally a couple of minutes inside Egyptian airspace before it disappeared,

Not even a couple of minutes, it was barely 60 seconds if some reports are correct saying that the plane disappeared 15 km inside Egypt's airspace. The A320 has a cruising speed at about 830 km/h.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by T@T

I think the closest Greek Island to it's last known location is about 200 miles away, that would be a hell of a fireball.

Yep, that would be a massive fireball.
"The plane disappeared from the radar inside Egypt's FIR, 11 kilometres southeast of the island of Crete."
From http://www.pentictonherald.ca/news/world_news/article_11a2fdbc-903d-511f-aec9-06ebb9c8a026.html

[Bigtime]

Link to the Aviation Herald page for this, is kept very up to date as information comes in:

http://avherald.com/h?article=4987fb09&opt=1

[Bigtime]

Multiple reports of debris being found in the Med coming in now:

http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-a...e=news_central

On top of the report by Reuters that two plastic objects had been found 50 miles (80km) south of where the plane disappeared, there are more reports coming in.

Greek state broadcaster ERT says two "orange-coloured objects" have been found, while an unnamed Greek military official told Associated Press that orange objects were spotted 230 miles (370 km) south-south-east of Crete, but still within the Egyptian air traffic control area.

"There have been finds south-east of Crete, inside the Cairo flight information area," Greek army general staff spokesman Vassilis Beletsiotis told Agence France-Presse.

[Regorium]

Oh EgyptAir. I guess it'll be mechanical failure and 100% blame on Airbus then.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Regorium

Oh EgyptAir. I guess it'll be mechanical failure and 100% blame on Airbus then.

Egyptair flight MS804: 'Terrorism more likely than technical failure', says Egypt

[nik-]

Ehh, they'd rather Paris' security be the problem then an Egyptian airline's maintenance practices. It's likely going to be the latter.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Egyptair flight MS804: 'Terrorism more likely than technical failure', says Egypt

In the abstract, or in this specific case? Because I can't imagine they have anywhere near enough information to make any such assessment. And it's irresponsible to jump to anything even resembling conclusions until they do.

[calgaryblood]

Yeah this is looking more like terrorism than a mechanical failure. Does ISIS have a problem with Egypt? If so, they'll likely be the culprit.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Yeah this is looking more like terrorism than a mechanical failure. Does ISIS have a problem with Egypt? If so, they'll likely be the culprit.

Egypt is getting battered on multiple fronts, including from ISIS. Another flight was bombed last fall by a person with connections to ISIS. 224 people died in that one.

Also worth noting that ISIS has been making comments about targeting western tourists this summer, so it may also be no coincidence that this flight originated in France.

[nik-]

ISIS apparently has already released their daily news bulletin and made no mention of the plane. Considering how intent they are at claiming responsibility for every terror attack everywhere, it's probably a good indication they weren't behind this.

[heep223]

Trump is already using this as a marketing campaign. That guy is the absolute worst.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Yeah this is looking more like terrorism than a mechanical failure. Does ISIS have a problem with Egypt? If so, they'll likely be the culprit.

The current Egyptian government is more or less at war with the Muslim Brotherhood, who have connections (or at the very least sympathies) with ISIS. Egypt is also heavily engaged with islamic militants in the Sinai, where ISIS is more or less openly operating. The conflict there has left 2000-3000 dead:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinai_insurgency