Egypt's state newspaper Ahram reported that there had been no distress call from the EgyptAir plane. (Representational Image)
Highlights
- EgyptAir plane with 66 people on board was flying from Paris to Cairo
- The plane disappeared after entering Egyptian airspace
- Egypt, Greece have sent rescue boats and jets to search for plane
An EgyptAir plane which had gone missing with
66 people on board
probably crashed into the sea, officials from Egypt's national airline said today. The Airbus A320 aircraft flying from Paris to Cairo had disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean Sea, EgyptAir had said earlier.
"The search and rescue aircraft from the Egyptian air force are at the position where we lost contact. They are still looking and so far there is nothing found," EgyptAir vice chairman Ahmed Adel told Reuters.
Greece said it had deployed aircraft and a frigate to the area to help with the search. A Greek defense ministry source said authorities were also investigating an account from the Captain of a merchant ship who reported seeing a "flame in the sky" 130 nautical miles south of the island of Karpathos.
Egypt's state newspaper Ahram reported that there had been no distress call from the plane and the last contact with the pilot was about 10 minutes before the aircraft disappeared.
The plane was carrying 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, one Briton and one Belgian. There were three children among the passengers.
"An official source at EgyptAir stated that Flight MS804, which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST), heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar," the airline said on its official Twitter account.
Later tweets by EgyptAir said the plane, which was travelling at an altitude of 37,000 feet, disappeared in Egyptian air space at 02.30 am local time, around 280 km from the Egyptian coastline. It was due to land at 03.15 am.
With its ancient archeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a popular destination for Western tourists. But the industry was badly hit following the downing of a Russian jet last year, the ongoing Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb attacks in the country.
The last fatal incident involving an EgyptAir aircraft was in May 2002, when a Boeing 737 crashed into a hill while on approach to Tunis-Carthage International Airport, killing 14 people.