Live: Egyptair bosses confirm 'debris' not from missing plane
- A Egyptair plane with 66 passengers on board has crashed off the Greek island of Karpathos in Egyptian airspace.
- There were 30 Egyptians, 15 French and 10 other nationalities on board.
- A distress signal was recorded by Egyptair, but it is not clear if it is from the missing plane or another plane or boat.
- The plane was still at 37,000ft when it disappeared from the radar.
- A search and rescue operation has been launched with military rescue teams sent to the planes last known location. Greece are helping out the rescue mission and France have said they may get involved also.
- An emergency meeting has been called by the Egyptian president with security officials.
- Greek defence minister says aircraft made a series of sharp turns and plummeted thousands of feet through the air before disappearing.
- EgyptAir has provided free contact numbers for families concerned for relatives. From outside Egypt, anyone concerned should call + 202 2598 9320.
- Debris and life jackets have been found near the suspected site of crash.
- Bosses at Egyptair have confirmed wreckage was not from missing plane.
Bosses at Egyptair have confirmed wreckage found in the Mediterranean Sea was not from the missing plane.
The company's vice-president says they "stand corrected", after earlier saying wreckage was from the plane.
Meanwhile, officials think the 66 people on the jet service from Paris to Cairo could be the victims of a terror attack.
But they have not ruled out a technical fault.
Items including life jackets have been found floating near the suspected site of the EgyptAir plane crash, Egypt Civil Aviation officials said.
The EgyptAir airline said the wreckage has been found, and in a statement said: "EGYPTAIR resource stated that the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation has just received an official letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that confirms the finding of wreckage of the missing aircraft No. MS 804 near Karpathos Island.
"EGYPTAIR sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MS804.
"Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected.
"The Egyptian Investigation Team in co-operation with the Greek counterpart are still searching for other remains of the missing plane."
The head of Russia's top domestic security agency also said that the crashed jet has apparently been brought down by a terror attack.
Alexander Bortnikov said that "in all likelihood it was a terror attack", according to Russian news agencies.
Mr Bortnikov, the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, called for a joint action to track down those responsible for the "monstrous attack".
Debris believed to be from EgyptAir flight MS804 which crashed with 66 people on board has been found.
An Egyptian aircraft spotted two orange objects near the Mediterranean island of Karpathos, which are believed to have come from EgyptAir flight MS804, Greek military officials said.
A Greek official said the items were found 230 miles south-southeast of the island of Crete but still within the Egyptian air traffic control area.
Egypt's aviation minister has said the possibility of a terror attack as cause of the EgyptAir crash is "stronger" than that of a technical failure.
Sherif Fathi said he does not want draw conclusions about what happened to EgyptAir flight 804 but added that analysis points to terrorism as a cause with a higher probability.
Aviation officials said the plane had crashed and a search was under way. The "possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed", as the plane had not landed in any nearby airports, said the officials.
Mr Fathi, said the Egyptian-Greek search for debris from the plane off the Greek island of Karpathos is expanding.
Hours after the plane disappeared on Thursday, Mr Fathi told reporters in Cairo that the diameter of the search area will widen, moving further south of the island.
Meanwhile, Egypt's chief prosecutor Nabil Sadek said he has ordered an "urgent investigation" into the crash. Mr Sadek instructed the National Security Prosecutor to open an "extensive investigation" into the incident.
Another aviation official said a signal had been picked up from the plane two hours after it disappeared from radar, thought to have been an emergency beacon.
Panos Kammenos, the Greek defence minister, said the aircraft made a series of sharp turns and plummeted thousands of feet through the air before disappearing.
He said: "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."
An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed, French President Francois Hollande has confirmed.
EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at 2.45am local time when it was flying at 37,000ft, according to the airline.
Mr Hollande said nothing has been ruled out about the cause of the crash. Speaking at the Elysee Palace in Paris, he said: "When we have the truth we need to draw all the conclusions.
"At this stage, we must give priority to solidarity toward the families (of the victims)."
The EgyptAir flight made abrupt turns and suddenly lost altitude before vanishing from radar, Greece's defence minister has said.
Konstantinos Lintzerakos, Greece Civil Aviation Authority's director, said Greek air traffic controllers were in contact with the pilot who reported no problems as the aircraft cruised at 37,000 feet, travelling at 519 mph.
The controllers tried to make contact with the pilot 10 miles before the plane exited the Greek Flight Information Region (FIR).
The pilot did not respond, he said, and they continued to try to speak to him until 3.29am local time when the plane disappeared from the radar inside Egypt's FIR, 7 miles south-east of the island of Crete.
Egyptian officials believe the aircraft crashed into the water, but the country's Prime Minister has said it is too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused it.
Former British Airways pilot Alastair Rosenchein has said there are a number of theories: There is a possibility it could have ditched into the sea or diverted somewhere but it only has a certain amount of fuel so it is unlikely to still be flying.
“If it had landed in an airport we would know about it, so it is more likely to be in the sea somewhere, either ditched or had an accident.”
The Paris Prosecutor has opened an investigation into the disappearance of EgyptAir flight MS804.
The French military said a Falcon surveillance jet monitoring the Mediterranean for migrants has been diverted to help search for the EgyptAir plane.
Military spokesman Colonel Gilles Jaron said the jet is joining the Egypt-led search effort, and the French navy may send another plane and a ship to the zone.
John Litchfield is the Paris correspondent with The Independent.
He has said a flame was spotted in the sky close to where the plane is believed to have gone down.
Relatives are gathering at both airports in Cairo and Paris to find out more about #EgyptAir #MS804 passengers https://t.co/5seEJO41CW
— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 19, 2016
Egypt's president calls in an emergency meeting with security officials.
Sky's Sharine Tadros in Cairo has said a crisis centre has been set up at the airport for the families of the passengers.
“There’s still this lack of confirmation coming from the Egyptian authorities about whether a crash has happened or not although, if you look at what has happened in the past couple of hours, the huge search and rescue operation taking place, the fact that Paris, French officials are saying they are going to get involved, it does increasingly look as if the plane did crash into the sea.”
AFP is reporting the plane has crashed off the Greek island of Karpathos in Egyptian airspace.
BREAKING EgyptAir #MS804 crashed off Greek island of Karpathos in Egyptian airspace https://t.co/4YsFPOJx2N pic.twitter.com/i4Y4LhMEhU
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) May 19, 2016
CBS news correspondent in Paris Elaine Cobb says the aircraft was at cruising height when it vanished from radar: “The plane was still at 37,000ft when it disappeared from the radar.
“That is less likely to indicate something coming from the ground, but it does suggest something very sudden.
“There are conflicting reports over whether or not a distress signal was sent just before it disappeared.
“It was already in Egyptian air space.”
Experts are speculating that the crash was caused by a catastrophic situation, rather than a mechanical fault.
Unconfirmed reports have claimed to have seen some sort of explosion in the night sky around the time the flight went down.
BREAKING #MS804 Greek officials investigating reports from island residents that they saw a ball of fire in the sky https://t.co/4YsFPOJx2N
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) May 19, 2016
Mike Vivian is the former head of Flight Operations at Britain's Civil Aviation Authority.
He says airport security was increased in Paris after the bombing of a Russian jet over Egypt last year: “There was a cull carried out by the French security services, of employees at the airport where this particular aircraft originated from.
“Obviously the security services will be looking very heavily at the security at the point of departure.”
Officials are now saying they are unsure if the distress signal came from the missing Egyptair flight.
The distress signal has been detected two hours after the flight first disappeared from Radar.
Egyptair have confirmed a distress call was made by the plane before it went missing.
The flight was 280km from Egytian coast when it went missing.
The captain on the flight had 6,000 hours experience.
Egypt are currently searching for the plane with help from Greece.
Ihab Raslan, a spokesman for the Egyptian civil aviation authority, said the plane was about to enter Egyptian airspace when it disappeared from radar. The airline, however, said the Airbus A320 had vanished 10 miles after it entered Egyptian airspace.
Around 15 family members of passengers on board the missing flight arrived at Cairo airport and authorities brought doctors to the scene after several collapsed.
EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at 2.45am local time when it was flying at 37,000 feet, the airline said.
Egyptian aviation officials say they believe a missing plane - with 66 people on board - has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Sky's Sharine Tadros says Egyptair has released the nationalities of those on board: “Many different nationalities including 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, one British national, One Belgium national, two from Iraq and then various other countries.
“We are just going down the list, from Saudi Arabia, from Chad, from Sudan.”
the passengers' nationalities are as follows:
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 19, 2016
- 15 French
- 30 Egyptian
- 1 British
- 1 Belgium
- 2 Iraqis
- 1 Kuwaiti
- 1 Saudi
- 1 Sudanese
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 19, 2016
- 1 Chadian
- 1 Portuguese
- 1 Algerian
- 1 Canadian
A flight from Paris to Cairo, flight number MS804 has disappeared from radar screens above the Mediterranean.
Egyptair has said there were 56 passengers on board - including a child and two babies.
The plane also had a crew of 10.
The flight, from Paris CDG, disappeared while flying at an altitude of 37,000ft after entering Egyptian airspace.
There is no indication as of yet of distress calls or mechanical trouble and there are no reports of bad weather.
A search and rescue mission is now ongoing.
ALERT https://t.co/1jjhY4y8Qk EgyptAir flight 804 disappears from radar on way to Cairo from Paris, airline says - Sky News Arabia
— AIRLIVE (@airlivenet) May 19, 2016
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