EgyptAir flight MS804 disappears from radar between Paris and Cairo

An EgyptAir passenger jet carrying 66 passengers has vanished en route to Cairo.

The flight departed from Paris on Wednesday evening and lost contact with ground crews at 2.45am local time, about 16km (10 miles) inside Egyptian airspace.

The 12-year-old Airbus A320-232 was about 40 minutes from its destination. It was the aircraft’s fifth flight of the day, including journeys to Asmara, Eritrea and Carthage in Tunisia.

The airline’s vice-chairman, Ahmed Abdel, told CNN the plane made no distress call.

There were “no recorded snags coming out of Cairo” or reported before leaving Charles de Gaulle, he said.

The captain had also recorded more than 6,000 flying hours, including 2,000 hours in that model, Abdel said. There had not been any special cargo or notification of dangerous goods on board, he added.

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.

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.

What we know so far

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.

Flight MS804 has now been missing for four hours: last contact was at 02.45 local time. It is now 06.45 in Cairo, where it has been daylight for close to two hours.

Reuters cites a French airport official saying of flight MS804:

It did not land, that is all we can say for the moment.

One child, two babies on board

A further update from EgyptAir:

It confirms that 56 passengers were on board, including one child and two babies

It 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.

Specialist teams and the Egyptian armed forces are still searching for the plane.

Egypt air is following the situation closely with the relevant authorities through the integrated operations centre.

The company also provides free contact numbers: 0800 7777 0000 from any landline in Egypt and + 202 2598 9320 outside Egypt or any mobile in Egypt.

Associated Press reports that Ihab Raslan, a spokesman for the Egyptian civil aviation agency, told SkyNews Arabia that the Airbus A320 most likely crashed into the sea.

However, he also said the plane was about to enter Egyptian airspace when it disappeared from radar, contradicting the airline, which said it was 10 miles (16km) inside Egyptian airspace when contact was lost.

It is not uncommon for conflicting information to surface at this stage – the number of those on board has already been adjusted from 69 to 66.

According to Airsafe.com, the Airbus A320 – considered a safe and reliable aircraft – has been involved in a number of incidents, including:

A runway slide by an AirCanada jet near Halifax, Canada, on 29 March last year (23 injuries).
A Germanwings flight that was deliberately piloted into a mountain near Barcelonnette, France, on 24 March 2015 (150 deaths).
An AirAsia flight that crashed into the Java Sea avoiding inclement weather on 28 December 2014 (162 deaths).
A US Airways flight that was forced to make an emergency landing on the Hudson river in New York after suffering engine failure on 15 January 2009.

This graphic from Flightradar24 shows what it believes to be the last satellite communication from the plane, which tallies with the report from EgyptAir’s Ahmed Abdel that the location of last contact was around 30-40 miles north from the Egyptian coast.

theguardian