Thursday, 19 May 2016

EgyptAir flight MS804 crash: Plane 'may have been brought down by bomb'

MISSING EgyptAir Flight MS804 may have been brought down by a bomb, US government officials have claimed.


An EgyptAir passenger planeMISSING AND FEARED CRASHED: The EgyptAir passenger plane most likely went down near Greece
Reports from a Greek airport source say EgyptAir flight MS804 went down off the Greek Island of Karpathos, but in Egyptian airspace.
It vanished while en route from Paris to Cairo while carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew, including one Briton.
An emergency distress signal is believed to have been sent from the aircraft two hours after it disappeared from radar.
Just before midday, a Greek defence minister said the plane was spotted "making sudden swerves" and quickly lost altitude shortly before it crashed.
It was said to have made a 360 degree hard left turn before jerking suddenly to a 90 degree right angle.
It then reportedly plunged 22,000ft.
Now US government officials are looking into a theory the plane was brought down by a bomb.
CRASH SITE: This is the suspected crash site off the Greek island of Karpathos
It has been confirmed a British passport holder was among those on board.
No further details about whether they are a man or woman or their age are known.
Government minister Phlip Hammond said the Foreign Office providing support to the person's family.
A statement was released this morning by Airbus, the France-based aircraft manufacturing company that built the plane.
It confirmed the craft involved was delivered to EgyptAir from the production line in November 2003 and to date, accumulated approximately 48,000 flight hours.
The company said it will be providing full assistance to the French Aviation Agency and to any authrity in charge of the investigation.
It added: "To date, the entire fleet has accumulated nearly 180 million flight hours in over 98 million flights.
"Airbus regrets to confirm the loss of an Egyptair A320, flight #‎MS804 . Our concerns go to all those affected.
"Airbus will make further factual information available as soon as the details have been confirmed and cleared by the authorities for release."
The aircraft, believed to be an Airbus A320, took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport late on Wednesday night.
It was due to arrive at Cairo International Airport early on Thursday morning.
But it disappeared off radar at 37,000ft around 80 miles before it was due to enter Egyptian airspace.
The full list of passengers is:
  • 30 Egyptian
  • 15 French
  • 2 Iraqi
  • 1 British
  • 1 Belgian
  • 1 Sudanese
  • 1 Chadian
  • 1 Portuguese
  • 1 Algerian
A map shows where EgyptAir Flight MS804 disappearedMAP: A map shows where EgyptAir Flight MS804 disappeared
Two babies and one other child were among the passengers.
Two cockpit crew, five cabin crew and three security personnel were also on board.
According to flightradar24.com, the plane's last known position was above the Mediterranean sea.
A huge search operation is now underway, with more and more vessels joining the search off the Greek coast.
Search and rescue teams - including specialist teams and the Egyptian armed forces - have been deployed.
Ahmed Abdel, vice-chairman of EgyptAir's holding company, earlier said the search is ongoing.
He added that search teams were informed the coordinates of where the aircraft lost contact and a rescue plane has arrived at that area.
This is between Athens and Egypt - about 30 to 40 miles north of the Egyptian coast.
A map showing the last position of EgyptAir Flight MS804VANISHED: A close-up shows the flight's last known position
Greece has also joined the operation.
Two aircraft - one C-130 and one early warning aircraft - have been dispatched.
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.
Ihab Raslan, a spokesman for the Egyptian civil aviation agency, said the Airbus A320 most likely crashed into the sea.
He also said the plane was about to enter Egyptian airspace when it disappeared from radar.
This contradicts the airline - which said the plane was 10 miles inside Egyptian airspace.
Last radio contact with the airliner was just 10 minutes before it disappeared - and the plane was just 20 minutes from its scheduled landing time.
After 8am, famlies of those on board started arriving at a crisis centre set up at Cairo airport.
Relatives of the French passengers have gone to Charles De Gaulle Airport in the hopes of recveiving more information.
EgyptAir said the captain has 6,275 flying hours - including 2,101 on the A320.
The copilot has 2,766 flying hours.
FAMILIES: Relatives of those on board have begun arriving in droves
ARRIVING: A crisis centre has been set up for families to receive updates on the search
FRANCE: Media and families have assembled at Charles de Gaulle airport for updates


The disappearance will inevitably raise fears of terrorism.
It turned out it was blown up by Egyptian Islamic exremists linked to ISIS.
Interestingly, an EgyptAir mechanic - whose cousin joined Islamic State in Syria, is .
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.
France’s aviation authority could not immediately be reached for comment.
CRASHED: Egyptian authorities are saying the plane did crash
According to sources, the pilots spoke to Greek air traffic controllers as it passed over the country and did not report any problems.
It reportedly disppeared from radar two minutes after entering Greek airspace.
But the head of the country's civil aviation, Kostas Litzerakis, said: "The pilot did not mention any problems."
France will also send search teams – thought to be planes – to assist in what is expected to be a massive operation.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that at this stage "no theory can be ruled out".
Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismael arrived at the crisis centre early on Thursday morning.
Authorities are pleading for people not to speculate on what happened to the plane without it being confirmed it has crashed.
At just before 11.30am this morninf, French President Francois Hollande called on people to show "solidarity" in the aftermath of the disaster.
He echoed Mr Valls, saying "no hypothesis has been ruled out".
Mr Hollande also confirmed a Paris prosecutor is opening a case into the missing plane, which he confirmed crashed.
FRENCH LEADERS: France Prime Minster Manuel Valls and President Francois Hollande 
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