A Russian passenger plane crashed in the Sinai last October, killing all 224 people aboard.
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Greek state television ERT had earlier reported that debris had been spotted some 230 nautical miles (425 km) from Crete, about 100 nautical miles from the plane’s last known location.
He said it made a 90-degree left turn, then a full 360-degree turn toward the right, plummeting from 38,000 to 15,000 feet.
Egypt’s military said it had deployed search aircraft and naval vessels to locate the plane, in cooperation with Greece.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi demanded an “intensified search” for the aircraft after conflicting reports emerged about the discovery of debris.
It also said floating “life jackets and plastic material” had been discovered.
French President Francosi Hollande on Thursday said it’s early to draw any conclusions about the causes of the EypytAir plane crash.
He insisted that it is too early to speak about the causes of the plane’s disappearance until search efforts are completed. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail talks to reporters at Cairo International Airport, Thursday, May 19, 2016.
Aboard the flight were 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, one Briton and one Belgian.
“Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected”, the statement added. About three hours later, the company which manufactured the plane, Airbus, was quoted to have said they “regret to confirm the loss of an Egyptair A320”.
A Greek aviation source said the flight had disappeared from Greek radar at around 0029 GMT. The carrier’s account fits closely with an account from Konstantinos Lintzerakos, director of Greece’s Civil Aviation Authority. A Greek ship reportedly saw a “flame in the sky” near Karpathos, which could be the missing aeroplane. He was even “in a good mood, and thanked (the controllers) in Greek”, said civil aviation chief Constantin Litzerakos.
The plane did not encounter any bad weather over the sea and no one sent out a distress call.
Rescue teams have recovered the first two corpses thought to be from the crash of EgyptAir flight MS804, which went down in the Mediterranean Sea during the night.
“Survival times in such waters range from two to seven hours for the elderly or individuals in poor health, while they range anywhere from two to 40 hours for healthier individuals”.
The plane has been part of EgyptAir’s fleet since November 3, 2003, according to Adel. The pilot had 6,000 flight hours.
In March, an EgyptAir plane flying from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus by a man with what authorities said was a fake suicide belt. The bomb turned out to be a fake, and all passengers and crew were released unharmed.
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“France is ready to provide every kind of assistance to Egypt”, Valls said.
