Egypt’s aviation minister, Sherif Fathi, said: “The possibility of having a different action or a terror attack is higher than the possibility of having a technical failure”.
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The plane disappeared between the Greek islands and the Egyptian coast in the without a distress signal from its crew.
The plane disappeared over the Mediterranean with 66 people on board early Thursday.
Upon further inspection, the debris – which included luggage, two passenger seats, and at least one body part – was confirmed to have come from the downed plane.
The BBC reports that the Greek, Egyptian, French and British militaries are all involved in the search for the Airbus A320 aircraft. According to Greek aviation officials, air traffic control spoke to the pilot when the Airbus entered Greek airspace, and nothing was amiss.
Earlier, three French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived at Cairo International Airport to help investigate the fate of the missing plane, airport sources said.
The plane crash will affect the timing of the resumption of travel links between Russian Federation and Egypt, Kommersant reported, citing a senior source.
No group has as yet claimed the bombing, although suspicion has fallen on the Islamic State (IS) group, which has attacked both France and Egypt in the past year.
Kerry offered Shoukry condolences for the lives lost in the crash and promised to stay in close contact as the investigation progresses, the department said in a statement. Authorities later said it was likely the plane had crashed. It was near the end of a scheduled flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle to Cairo.
EgyptAir released a statement saying it received an official letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirming the discovery of the wreckage.
The flight path of EgyptAir flight 804 from Paris to Cairo is seen on a flight tracking screen, May 19, 2016.
Families of the victims spent the night in a hotel in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, while they awaited the news of their loved ones.
The French government will meet families of the victims on Saturday in order to “provide all the information we can”, Ayrault added.
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A self-proclaimed “lucky” man has told of his relief at missing the doomed EgyptAir flight MS804 after being convinced by his parents to delay his journey. The airline named the captain as Mohamed Said Shoukair, who had some 6,275 flying hours under his belt, including more than 2,000 hours flying the A320, the Guardian reports.
