All 224 people on board died.
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The Airbus A320 was carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo when it disappeared. A Briton was also among the passengers. One of the passengers was Egyptian-born Ahmed Helal, a plant manager at Procter & Gamble’s Amiens, France, manufacturing facility.
“A short while ago we were briefed by the Egyptian authorities. on the discovery of a body part, a seat and baggage just south of where the aircraft signal was lost”, Defense Minister Panos Kammenos told reporters in Athens, according to Reuters. Greek radar shows the plane turning abruptly 90 degrees to the left, then swinging through a tight 360-degree circle to the right, all while “dropping like a rock”, according to one official.
Flight MS804 was flying at about 37,000 feet when it suddenly swerved, dove and faded off the radar at 2:29 a.m.Eastern European Time.
Investigators say no possible cause of the disaster can be ruled out yet, but the lack of a distress call from the plane indicates a possible bombing attack or a major technological failure that destroyed the aircraft in a matter of seconds.
While Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said it was too early to determine whether it was a terrorist attack or a technical failure that brought the plane down, his Minister of Aviation, Sharif Fathy, said that an attack was likely the cause of the crash. The Russian plane crashed in Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 people on board.
Egyptian and Greek authorities in ships and planes are searching the suspected crash area of an Airbus A320 for traces of the airliner or its victims, with more help on the way from the US, Britain and France.
The Egyptian officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. Two babies were aboard, officials said. “We’re still early in the investigation”, he said.
In an tweet in Arabic, the airline added that search and rescue teams have been deployed.
The message – believed to have come from Captain Mohamed Said Ali Ali Shoukair – was received minutes before the doomed jet vanished from radar and plunged into the Mediterranean.
French Foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and French junior minister for Transport, Maritime Economy and Fishery Alain Vidalies, speak to journalists following a crisis meeting of top ministers at the Elysee Presidential palace in Paris.
“If they had been involved in the crash”, he said, “it would be very odd for them to have sent that video rather than boasting of the crash”.
Greek civil aviation chief Constantinos Litzerakos said the pilot had mentioned no problem in his last communication before the plane disappeared, and the flight had not deviated from its course.
People including relatives of passengers who were on the EgyptAir plane arrive at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.
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“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 co-pilot had 2,766 flying hours.
