Egyptair Plane Made 'Sudden Swerves' Before Vanishing Over Mediterranean

Cairo: An EgyptAir plane made abrupt turns and plunged steeply Thursday shortly before disappearing from radar over the Mediterranean, a Greek official said, deepening the mystery over the possible last moments aboard the Cairo-bound plane with 66 people aboard.

Even as details emerged of the flight's final moments recorded by ground control, rescue vessels and aircraft combed the sea between southern Greek islands and the Egyptian coast.

Aviation officials in Egypt and Paris - where the flight began - said there was nothing immediately pointing to why the plane lost contact with radar tracking about 45 minutes before its scheduled landing.

But the mysterious and instant cut from ground contact raised inevitable parallels with similar incidents at cruising altitude that were caused by attacks, bombs or pilot intervention rather than technical malfunctions.

The accounts from Greece - the last flight controllers in contact with the pilot - detailed a chaotic and so-far unexplained deviation from the plane's flight path.

The Airbus A320 made "sudden swerves" and dropped from 37,000 feet to 15,000 moments after crossing from the Greek flight control area into Egypt's jurisdiction, said Greece's defense minister, Panos Kammenos.

The first turn was a sharp 90-degree veer to the east near the Greek island of Karpathos, Kammenos told reporters in Athens. Then the plane made a full circular loop - a "360 degree turn," Kammenos said.

In Paris, French President Francois Hollande said the plane had "crashed," but gave no more details on what could have brought the plane down.

"We cannot rule anything out," Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail told reporters at Cairo's airport. In Paris, the prosecutor's office also opened an investigation.

"No hypothesis is favored or ruled out at this stage," said the French prosecutor's statement.

Earlier, there was conflicting information about whether officials received a distress signal from the aircraft. The airline said it did receive a distress signal from the Airbus A320, but the Egyptian armed forces later said they were unaware of such a signal.

Airbus expressed regret over the "loss" of the aircraft in a Facebook statement.

Flight MS804 had been routine as it crossed Europe. As the plane left Greek airspace, the pilot "was in good spirits and thanked the controller in Greek," according to Greece's civil aviation agency.

It was last noted on radar about 175 miles off Egypt's Mediterranean port city of Alexandria - an area of sea known for fast currents and high winds.

A statement posted on Egyptian army spokesman Mohamed Samir's Facebook page said a number of airplanes and navy vessels have been dispatched. A state of emergency has been declared at military hospitals and disaster operations centers.

Of the 66 people on board, 56 were passengers, including two infants and one child, seven were crew members and three were security personnel. French authorities told reporters at a news conference that it is usual practice for EgyptAir to have three security officers aboard.

Among those on board, according to the airline, were 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, two Iraqis and one passenger each from England, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada. No Americans were on the flight.

The pilot of the plane had more than 6,000 hours of flight experience, including more than 2,000 hours flying the same model aircraft, EgyptAir said. The co-pilot had nearly 3,000 flying hours. Adel told CNN they had no problems leaving Paris.

Manufactured in 2003, the plane was powered by International Aero Engines.

Relatives of passengers were kept in a lounge with on-site doctors and translators at the Cairo airport Thursday morning. They left after a few hours and were told to await updates by phone. One man with four relatives on the plane told The Washington Post that he "knows nothing."

Amr Sami, a regional EgyptAir spokesman at Charles de Gaulle Airport, told The Post that EgyptAir flights from Paris will continue as scheduled. Meanwhile, families of passengers in Paris were taken to an airport hotel.

"No hypothesis can be excluded at this stage on the causes of the disappearance," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Radio Luxembourg.

In March, an EgyptAir flight from Alexandria was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus. The suspect, 59-year-old Seif Eldin Mustafa, surrendered and all hostages were released.

A Russian plane exploded in midair over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last October, killing all 223 people aboard. An affiliate of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

In March 2015, a Germanwings flight plunged into the French Alps after the co-pilot took control in an apparent suicide dive.


© 2016 The Washington Post

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