EgyptAir said a flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar early Thursday morning.
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Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sharif Fathy said there were no known security issues with passengers on the plane, but said further checks are underway.
The highest official to speculate about what could have caused the sudden crash was French President Francois Hollande.
Until that point, Hollande warned against jumping to conclusions, saying that nothing could be ruled out at this point – including an accident or possible terrorist motive.
“We certainly extend our condolences to each and every country that has lost people and particularly to Egypt”, the top USA diplomat said at a press conference after participating in a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation foreign ministers meeting.
Both France’s and Egypt’s prime ministers said nothing can be ruled out in the investigation of the EgyptAir crash.
“Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected”, the airline said. Egyptian aviation officials initially claimed the debris was from the plane, but later retracted that statement. Shortly after exiting Greek airspace, it disappeared from radars, he said.
Weather conditions were clear at the time of the plane’s disappearance, Reuters reports.
Reporters gathered in front of the small, empty EgyptAir counter at Terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle Airport.
EgyptAir said the plane had been manufactured in 2003. The plane was in Egyptian airspace at the time, and the country’s officials have indicated that terrorism may have been the cause for the disaster.
Global flight tracking service Flightradar24 showed the plane’s signal disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea about 2.45am Cairo time.
EgyptAir said contact was lost with the flight about 280km north of the Egyptian coast.
The plane, an Airbus A320, was relatively new and the crew was experienced.
About 15 relatives of passengers arrived at the Cairo airport, and authorities brought doctors to the scene after several distressed family members collapsed.
About two hours after the plane vanished, searchers detected the airliner’s emergency beacon in the vicinity of the crash.
In October 2015, 224 people were killed when a Russian aircraft crashed over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula minutes after it took off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“All I will say is that our embassy in Athens told us that it was contacted by Greek authorities, who signalled that they found white and blue debris corresponding to EgyptAir’s colours”, Egyptian ambassador to France Ehab Badawy told France’s BFM television.
Egypt’s aviation minister says the possibility of a terror attack as a cause in the crash is “stronger” than tech failure.
Speaking of suggestions the plane may have been targeted in a terrorist attack, he said: “This is the reality of Isis (Islamic State) and groups like that”.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the aircraft had plunged 22 000 feet (6 700m) and swerved sharply twice in Egyptian airspace before it disappeared from radar screens.
– 1200 GMT: Egypt’s aviation minister Sherif Fathy says he can not rule out that an attack or a technical failure brought down the flight. The co-pilot had 2,766 flight hours logged, the company said.
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EgyptAir hit the headlines in March when a flight from the coastal city of Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to divert to Cyprus, where the hijacker, who was described as “unstable”, demanded to see his ex-wife.
