EgyptAir says flight from Paris to Cairo with 69 people on board 'has disappeared from radar'

[milestogo]

Source: 9News

An EgyptAir flight with 69 people on board has disappeared from radar while flying from Paris to Cairo.

The airline has confirmed in a statement flight MS804 was carrying 59 passengers and 10 crew when it vanished from radar this morning.


Read more: http://www.9news.com.au/world/2016/05/19/13/02/egyptair-flight-disappears-from-radar-while-flying-from-paris-to-cairo

---

Just breaking at 10pm CST

[Fresh_Start]

1. I pray they are found and safe

but if the worst happens...at let them be found so they don't have to suffer from not knowing.

[Renew Deal]

2. It is around 5AM in Paris

So that's probably what they mean by this morning.

[milestogo]

3. Story seems to be in the process of being posted

on US news sites but its doubtful more is known yet.

By Victor Morton - The Washington Times - Updated: 11:10 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, 2016
An Egypt Air flight from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar, according to multiple news accounts citing the airline.

Flight 804 had 59 passengers and 10 crew aboard.

According to Sky News Arabia, the plane was last detected in the skies over Greece, about 40 minutes from Athens.

“Egyptian aviation authorities [have] raised the alert level at Cairo airport,” Sky News Arabia reported.

Both France and Egypt have had their transportation networks attacked by Islamic State and allied terrorists in recent years, ranging from a lone jihadist going on a knife rampage on a French train to the shooting down of a Russian airliner leaving an Egyptian resort.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/18/egyptair-flight-804-paris-cairo-disappears-radar/

[philosslayer]

7. The Washington Times is not a reliable source

for anything....

[Recursion]

10. It's pretty good for DC city politics (nt)

[philosslayer]

13. Last I checked.....

DC isn't between Paris and Cairo.

[milestogo]

17. Since about 50 other news organizations are now reporting

the information that the flight has disappeared from radar, then they are equally unreliable.

[philosslayer]

29. My point is...

The Washington Times is not a source cited on DU. If its a reputable report, others are better sources.

[milestogo]

37. I can't believe you are nitpicking this

when the topic is an international flight that has gone missing - and there is nothing inconsistent about the basic fact that is being reported.

[leftynyc]

78. Oh, please

people are using the freeking national enquirer as a source for stories - just further proof DU isn't what it used to be.

[LanternWaste]

86. You should then supply the administrators with an objective list of "trusted sources"

You should then supply the administrators with an objective list of "trusted sources" and make your case. If it's a reputable case, it will be given all due consideration. Or... simply continue with your allegations lacking any sources.

[philosslayer]

87. Go ahead

Go to the Washington Times. Post some of their articles. We'll see how things go.

[Xipe Totec]

45. The Washington Tines nt

[Warpy]

4. Nothing at RFI or BBC

so let's hope it's a glitch of some sort.

Damn, on BBC now.

[Joe the Revelator]

5. USA Today Link

No new info yet

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/05/18/egypt-air-flight-goes-radar-en-route-paris/84575288/

[Purveyor]

6. This is not good. Godspeed to those souls aboard...

[Yo_Mama]

8. Link to flight track - it blinked out over the Mediterranean coming into Alexandria

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/ms804/#9c0b766

Boeing 737

[Renew Deal]

12. I'm seeing the same thing from some other website.

Same spot

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MSR804/history/20160518/2045Z/LFPG/HECA

[Yo_Mama]

20. And here's the flight log - looks steady and normal.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MSR804/history/20160518/2045Z/LFPG/HECA/tracklog

Not good.

[Renew Deal]

28. Does it mean anything that it accelerated and changed course 3 degrees in the last report?

[Yo_Mama]

39. I've just been looking through the log. Looks like it was on autopilot except maybe for last

reading? Autopilot wouldn't correct that fast, I think.

Of course everyone thinks attack, but accidents are more common. But you'd expect to see more!

I think the last two log entries are from an airport in Turkey:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gazipa%C5%9Fa_Airport

It's been hours already.

[Joe the Revelator]

9. Egypt Air Twitter

(Translate in upper right hand corner)

https://twitter.com/EGYPTAIR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

She was on the rise and the ability of 37.000 ft and disappeared before entering Egyptian airspace by 80 miles (10 minutes).

[elleng]

11. On CNN now.

[840high]

15. My local news had it, too. I am

praying for a safe ending.

[Purveyor]

14. CNN International covering. Nothing related on France24 yet... eom

[uppityperson]

16. :(

[Joe the Revelator]

18. Weather Report

It was a sunny day in Ierapetra, a city on a Greek island. It is ~200 miles near the location of the plane's disappearance. The weather was also nice in Alexandria, the closest city on the other side of the Mediterranean sea.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ierapetra+722+00,+Grecia/@33.2436378,26.1188365,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x14907942bb49b56f:0x5ce23908b20d0bb6!8m2!3d35.012002!4d25.7409668

[Renew Deal]

19. CNN: 10 miles into Egyptian Airspace (not Egypt). 37,000 feet and rising

The fact that it was rising sounds like it's unusual.

[Joe the Revelator]

21. According to this, it had been cruising at 37k for a while

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/MSR804/history/20160518/2045Z/LFPG/HECA/tracklog

I don't know why they said 'rising'. Maybe bad translation?

[Renew Deal]

22. There is often bad information in early reports

So we'll see. Some guy on CNN says terrorism is high on the list, but I think that's because of the region.

[Joe the Revelator]

23. I think that, and the fact that it was at 37k in calm weather

That's normally a pretty safe time to be flying. And there was no decent prior to going dark.

[Yo_Mama]

30. It doesn't look like an accident right now.

At 37,000 feet, there would be a little time.

At least that's my uninformed guess. Explosion, missile, something like that.

[Joe the Revelator]

36. Best case 'bad' scenario would be the transponder being disabled for a hijacking nt

[Yo_Mama]

40. Yeah, didn't want to say that. They'll be checking the satellites.

This is awful.

It doesn't seem weather-related!

[Yo_Mama]

42. And doesn't it suck that we are hoping for a hijack!!!!

I bet TPTB already know what happened - they'll have satellite data, and there must be ton of shipping below.

Those poor families. I can't imagine what it would be like.

[leftynyc]

79. I think that's too high for

a missile. I remember that stat from an earlier airplane incident. Explosion (deliberate or otherwise) more likely.

[Yo_Mama]

84. Generally only national militaries have those types of missiles - but Greeks say calls unanswered.

I think, sadly, just from looking at the ADS-B logs and from this an unfortunate picture emerges:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36333992

Greek aviation officials say air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot when he entered Greek airspace and everything appeared normal.

They tried to contact him again at 02:27 Cairo time, as the plane was set to enter Egyptian airspace, but "despite repeated calls, the aircraft did not respond". Two minutes later it vanished from radar.

It would be odd for pilots not to respond for several minutes under those circumstances, when the plane appeared to be flying normally.

I also saw Hollande's comments this morning - the French suspect foul play, and even the Egyptians are saying there's a strong possibility.

[leftynyc]

85. Oy - this is the first I'm hearing

of not being able to contact the pilots that long before they left radar. Sounds like the cockpit may have been taken over.

[Yo_Mama]

88. Here's official Greek statement - AC did a great job, sadly without result

http://www.ypa.gr/en/news/egyptair-flight-msr-804

SUBJECT: EGYPTAIR FLIGHT MSR 804

Egypt Air flight MSR 804, A320 en route from Paris to Cairo entered ATHINAI FIR at 02:24 am local time. It was Radar identified and cleared by the competent Air Traffic Controller for the flight path.

At 02:48 am local time, the flight was transferred to the next Area Control Center Sector and was cleared by the ATC for the exit point of ATHINAI FIR. The pilot was jocund and thanked in Greek.

At 03:27 am local time, ATHINAI Area Control Center tried to communicate with the flight for transfer of communication and control from ATHINAI FIR to CAIRO FIR.

Despite the repetitive calls, the flight did not respond and thus the Air Traffic Controller called on the emergency frequency without response.

At 03:29 am local time the flight was over the boundary point, between ATHINAI and CAIRO FIRs.

At 03:29:40 am local time the flight signal was lost from radar, almost 7 NM south/southeast from KUMBI point (boundary point, between ATHINAI and CAIRO FIRs), within Cairo FIR.

Immediate assistance of the Hellenic Air Force radars was requested for possible target tracking, with no avail.

At 03:45 am local time Search and Rescue (SAR) operations were activated through JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Center), NAOP (National Air Operations Center) and ADIC (Air Defense Information Center), while updating the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authorities.

Note the timing - the last ADS-Bs are in those slots. Only on the final do we see the beginning of the "left turn" described by Greek officials.

So it has to be very suspect at this point. It is too much of a coincidence to have this happening at the handover point - that almost rules out a placed bomb or mechanical/structural failure. A personal bomb perhaps, but one would expect one emergency call unless it was in the cockpit, and in that scenario, one would expect to see different ADS-B reports and a response to AC. The plane had sped up slightly, and on the last report it has accelerated and begun to turn but is still reported at the same altitude.

My highly speculative interpretation is that this was a hijacking/seizing gone wrong. I don't have any expertise to back me - just that cause precedes effect, and that piling coincidence on coincidence is implausible. The left turn, sudden descent and 360 turn reported could also be evasive maneuvers.

I wonder about the security detail.

It is the worst possible scenario for the Egyptians. I hope they can get something useful off the flight recorder.

I also hope I am wrong.

[leftynyc]

89. Aren't there two black boxes?

Will one of them tell what was being said in the cockpit even if the radio was (obviously) off at the time?

[Yo_Mama]

90. If they recover them intact, just like the Germanwings recorders.

This is a sad, sad day.

Doesn't mean it's terrorism related - neither Germanwings nor MH370 were.

I just feel so for the families and friends. Those who lost their lives are suffering no more, but those living will have a terrible time with this.

[leftynyc]

91. Just read this

Greek officials are casting doubt the debris is from this plane.


https://www.yahoo.com/news/egyptair-flight-804-crash-missing-000000139.html

[Yo_Mama]

95. Now they say it definitely is not.

I think they are going to have to widen the search area. It is possible that thing got low to fly under radar for a while. I still think the flight implies evasive action.

Not that I really know anything, or that I have any special background. But the pattern here looks very, very suspicious.

[leftynyc]

99. And now they're confirming

they have found the debris (my thoughts and prayers are with the families who couldn't help but hope). I think the most suspicious part is that the Greek air control couldn't contact the plane and this was just before it started moving erratically as it fell from the sky. It still could have been caused by some catastrophic failure but not being able to contact the plane makes me think otherwise. I forget just what the two black boxes tell us. Does one of them record cockpit sounds even if the radio is turned off or damaged in some way?

[uppityperson]

27. CDG is pretty good with security, aware of the potentials.

[cstanleytech]

82. I think we might be able to exclude terrorists because usually they boast about it right away

if its something they are responsible for.
Doesnt mean they did it but even if they claim they did the odds are they are lying because they usually have their statement claiming responsibility ready to go very soon after they do something like this.

[Purveyor]

25. I wonder why the uncharacteristic time gaps at 02:22 and 02:29?

[Yo_Mama]

49. Change between receivers - Last two are LTFG, one prior LCPH, previously LGRP

So it flew through a gap in ADS-B reception.

If you read up the log you will see a similar gap when it shifts from LGKO to LGRP.

[Yo_Mama]

24. It wasn't rising - speed was accelerating a bit; it had been at 37,000 for most the flight

The FlightAware log is here:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MSR804/history/20160518/2045Z/LFPG/HECA/tracklog

[Roland99]

41. Hadn't started initial descent yet

And that is a bit fast...tailwind? Accelerating for some odd reason?

[Yo_Mama]

46. There's a course change in the wrong direction.

Look at the flight log - the expected course is listed, but no log entries after that:
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/MSR804/history/20160518/2045Z/LFPG/HECA/tracklog

Course change from 139 to 136 in the last entry, which doesn't look like autopilot.

I didn't want to say it, but a hijacking is one possibility. That high, if the transponder was transmitting, even a catastrophic accident should show a few more entries.

[milestogo]

48. If it crashed in the Mediterranean in broad daylight over 3 hours ago

I expect they would be finding it soon.

[Yo_Mama]

50. I think the military probably knows what happened by now.

If, horrible to say, it experienced a mid-air catastrophic incident, something should show on military/satellite data.

But of course until they know certainly they can't say.

I think probably ships would have seen it if it broke up in the air.

[milestogo]

52. Egyptian military or US?

There is a report that they Egyptian airforce was dispatched to search for the plane.

[Yo_Mama]

55. I would think the Israelis, Greeks, Turks, Egyptians and any one else with assets

in the area would cooperate in a matter such as this.

The Egyptians are saying they lost contact with the flight at 2:45, so it didn't just fall out of the air. They must at least have had it on radar for longer.

Given the unsettled nature of the area, I would think there are extensive military radar tracking systems in use. Plus satellites.

[Ghost Dog]

76. ... All parties with active-duty warships

in the Easter Mediterranean...

[uppityperson]

58. "It lost contact with radar at 02:45 Cairo time" per bbc

Should be dawn now though

[Roland99]

43. Cruising and max speed according to wiki >>> (they certainly exceeded that)

Cruising speed Mach 0.78 (828 km/h/511 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft)
Maximum speed Mach 0.82 (871 km/h/537 mph at 11,000 m/36,000 ft)

[herding cats]

32. Eygptair has clarified this statement some.

A clarification from Egyptair, which now says the plane “faded” from contact 10 miles (16km) inside Egyptian airspace:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/may/19/egyptair-plane-cairo-paris-live-updates

[brooklynite]

26. According to FLIGHTAWARE, the plane left Paris about 30 minutes late.

[Justice]

31. 10 Crew members seems like a lot for 69 passengers.

Now saying inside Egyptian airspace.

[Renew Deal]

35. Maybe it wasn't filled?

[herding cats]

38. It was an Airbus A320-232.

From what I read they seat between 150-180 people, so this one was considerably undercapcity on this flight.

[npk]

44. Man where do you folks get this info from so quickly

I mean that in a good way. It's good that you know that, but I would have no idea where to get that info. I didn't even know you could track planes like you are until just now. I guess almost anything is possible with tech today.

[melman]

51. twitter

https://twitter.com/search?q=EgyptAir&src=typd&lang=en

[npk]

53. thanks melman

[herding cats]

57. I've learned a lot of where to look from DU.

In this case; I saw in The Guardian live feed the type of plane, and had the same question as you did. I had just googled the plane and its general capacity, so I knew already when I saw your question.

[npk]

62. Yeah I usually rely on google as well

I just never knew that you could track so much with flights on line. Fascinating stuff.

[nitpicker]

59. This was a a late night flight

Taking off after 11 pm Paris time, scheduled landing about 3 am Cairo time.

[elleng]

33. Weather discussed now on CNN,

for part of flight.

[Renew Deal]

34. CNN: Weather good over the Mediterranean

[nitpicker]

47. Link to BBC live updates

http://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-africa-36328976

The latest BBC radio update adds that Greek authorities also saw the plane disappear from their radars on/near the edge of their airspace.

[flamingdem]

54. Planes don't just vanish

[dbackjon]

63. Malaysia Air ring a bell?

[uppityperson]

64. It went off radar about 3 am, is now dawn and they are searching

Hopefully they will find enough to tell what happened. RIP all the people on board and so sad for the families.

[flamingdem]

65. I just heard the plane is from Paris, so that's worse

because they have stringent security.

I imagine that a lot of people are not getting sleep tonight. So much work to get the answers, I suspect.

[uppityperson]

66. Indeed, that is quite bothersome. It will cause a lot of pain, hoping they find something out

[leftynyc]

80. But I also heard

it was the 5th or 7th leg from on that trip. The speculation was that a bag (or something) could have been placed on the plane earlier during one of the other legs that may have not included an airport with stringent security.

[nikto]

56. I wonder if the Neocons are behind this

Any Neocon cui bonos with this tragedy?
(Always worth looking into).



Just askin'.

[me b zola]

61. Three of the ten crew were security

[nikto]

67. OK, but what does that imply, exactly?

I apologize for being dense.

[me b zola]

68. I'm interested in knowing who is/was on that flight

The flight was significantly under-booked, I believe less than 1/3 filled. Three security personnel for 50 passengers, that's less than 20 passengers per security officers. That doesn't seem like a normal flight.

I have no idea what has happened, but I would like to know who is/was on board.

[UMTerp01]

60. Oh no...not again.

I just hope that whatever happened, there is an explanation so that the families have finality. But a plane disappearing at cruising altitude is never a good sign.

I'm so glad I visited Egypt before that area turned into complete turmoil.

[No Vested Interest]

69. Nationalities of passengers were fifteen French and a number of Egyptian,

several from various Middle Eastern countries - Irag, Saudi, and one from Chad, one from Canada. None listed from USA.

[oberliner]

93. The majority of the passengers were Egyptian

Twice as many Egyptian as French.

[No Vested Interest]

97. You are correct.

I was just giving an early update from memory after a news bulletin.

[oberliner]

103. Understood

Was just adding additional info.

[No Vested Interest]

70. EgyptAir says a signal, perhaps an emergency locator, was received within the hour. nt

[Bad Dog]

71. Latest from the BBC.

Reuters is now reporting comments by Greece's air traffic controllers, who say they spoke to the pilot of flight MS804 over the island of Kea.

It's thought this was the last broadcast from the aircraft.

"The pilot did not mention any problems," Kostas Litzerakis, head of Greece's civil aviation department, told Reuters.

It exited Greek airspace at 03:27 local time (01:27 BST) and entered Cairo airspace. Two minutes later it vanished from Greek radars, Mr Litzerakis said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-36328976

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

72. Here it is- confirmed flight ms804 has crashed.

Last edited Thu May 19, 2016, 04:13 AM - Edit history (8)

EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 804 MISSING, MAY 19, 2016
Editor's note: Egyptian aviation officials have confirmed to AP that EgyptAir flight MS804 has crashed however no more information is available at this stage, nor has any wreckage been discovered. EgyptAir have reported in arabic on their twitter account that an emergency ping was received from the stricken airliner long after the last radar contact. - Luke

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/livecoverage/breaking-news-now/lc-BBtdV9Y

Revised- update- crash has not been officially confirmed-report came in off the record.

EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 804 MISSING, MAY 19, 2016
Editor's note: There's still a great deal of confusion about the fate of EgyptAir flight MS804. We reported earlier that Egyptian aviation officials confirmed to AP that the plane has crashed, however they have revealed that this was said 'off the record' and has not been officially confirmed. There are now also reports that the Egyptian military has denied receiving a distress signal from the plane. It is likely the plane has crashed into the sea - however we can't say that as a matter of certainty at this point. - Luke
Read more on breakingnews.com
10 mins ago
EGYPTAIR FLIGHT 804 MISSING, MAY 19, 2016

Update: Egyptian PM, civil aviation ministry say 'too early' to officially confirm plane has crashed - Reuters

Aviation officials: EgyptAir plane carrying 66 has crashed

MAGGIE MICHAEL
May 18, 2016



https://www.yahoo.com/news/egyptair-says-plane-carrying-69-disappeared-radar-034408751.html

CAIRO (AP) — An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday morning, Egyptian aviation officials said.

EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at 2:45 a.m. local time when it was flying at 37,000 feet, the airline said. It said the Airbus A320 had vanished 10 miles (16 kilometers) after it entered Egyptian airspace, around 280km (175 miles) off the country's coastline north of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

The aviation officials later said the plane crashed and that a search for debris was now underway. The "possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed," as the plane hasn't landed in any of the nearby airports, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The official said a signal had been picked up from the plane two hours after it disappeared from radar, thought to have been an emergency beacon

msn:

Editor's note: AFP are reporting that a Greek airport source says the EgyptAir plane crashed off the Greek island of Karpathos. Local media reports that eyewitnesses saw a fire ball in the sky. There has been a great deal of confusion over this so far and it has still not been officially confirmed. - Luke
Read more on breaking news.



GYPTAIR FLIGHT 804 MISSING, MAY 19, 2016
Egypt's civil aviation minister expected to hold news conference at Cairo airport at 13:30 local time - @sommervilleBBC

[muriel_volestrangler]

75. 130 miles off Karpathos

“At around 0029 GMT (3:29 am) when it was in Egyptian airspace, the plane disappeared from Greek radars... it crashed around 130 nautical miles off the island of Karpathos,” the source told AFP.

The official said the last communication with the pilot was three minutes before the plane disappeared, and that there had been no distress call.

The Greek defence ministry said it had dispatched two search planes and a frigate to the area.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/may/19/egyptair-plane-cairo-paris-live-updates?page=with:block-573d73ace4b04a0378340ef9#block-573d73ace4b04a0378340ef9

That's about halfway to Egypt from Karpathos - round about the bottom right hand corner of that map.

[MowCowWhoHow III]

73. EgyptAir plane crashed off Greek island of Karpathos in Egyptian airspace: Greek airport source

#BREAKING: EgyptAir plane crashed off Greek island of Karpathos in Egyptian airspace: Greek airport source
https://twitter.com/AFP/status/733201436717113344

[6chars]

74. bummer, man

[Blue_Tires]

81. Doesn't look good

early accounts indicate this was caused by some kind of malicious action...

[leftyladyfrommo]

83. I just saw where the Russians are saying it was an act of terror.

I don't know why they think they know more than anyone else but they may have some kind of inside track.

[spinbaby]

92. Chances are they're right

A plane that falls from cruising altitude without warning is likely the victim of an attack.

[maxsolomon]

94. surprising specifics, though

if it's a terror attack:
1. OUT of Paris, which should not have had a Security Breach like that after the recent attacks.
2. Just before descending - why not trigger the device (or whatever it was) when the plane was just out of Paris? why wait until it had almost reached Cairo?

[6chars]

102. ok, time for paranoid conspiracy theories

Next people will be speculating that it was an Islamist group.

Anyway, sometimes things happen. It's sad, but you can't get worked up over it.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

96. Perhaps a little too soon to make a possible connection

but the circumstances seem similar to Malaysian flight MH370.

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AwrSbDpkcz5XRlEARXlXNyoA;_ylc=X1MDMjc2NjY3OQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC10BGdwcmlkAzVjdlBQeHJIUjBPZHFTMGcyVFcxVUEEbl9yc2x0AzAEbl9zdWdnAzAEb3JpZ2luA3NlYXJjaC55YWhvby5jb20EcG9zAzAEcHFzdHIDBHBxc3RybAMEcXN0cmwDNDUEcXVlcnkDbWlzc2luZyUyMG1hbGF5c2lhbiUyMHBsYW5lJTIwaW1hZ2UlMjByZXN1bHRzBHRfc3RtcAMxNDYzNzEwNTky?p=missing+malaysian+plane+image+results&fr2=sb-top-search&fr=yfp-t&fp=1

[muriel_volestrangler]

100. Not really; they have the precise moment this disappeared off radar

He said the aircraft was 15-20 kilometres inside the Egyptian FIR, Flight Information Region, and at an altitude of 37,000 feet. “It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360 degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet,” Kammenos added.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/egyptair-plane-with-69-aboard-disappears-from-radar-over-mediterranean

That was while on its normal flightpath. MH370 turned off transponders, turned around, and was tracked for over an hour before it went off radar, still flying, many hundreds of miles off course.

[brooklynite]

98. I passed through Paris two weeks ago...didn't notice any appreciably stricter security.

[muriel_volestrangler]

101. Egyptian military says debris from EgyptAir flight MS804 found in sea

The Egyptian military says it has found debris from the missing EgyptAir plane in the Mediterranean sea, 180 miles north of the coastal city of Alexandria.

The navy has also found some of the passengers’ belongings and is sweeping the area looking for the plane’s black box, the military said in a statement.
...
EgyptAir claimed on Thursday that it had found part of the wreckage and life jackets from MS804 near the island of Karpathos, east of Crete, but the airline’s vice-president, Ahmed Adel, later retracted the statement.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/20/egyptian-military-says-debris-from-egyptair-flight-ms804-found-in-sea

[milestogo]

104. Signals From Plane Hint at Swift Catastrophe, Aviation Website Reports

The Aviation Herald, a website that closely follows aviation news, reported that during the EgyptAir jetliner’s final minutes of flight, it sent automated technical signals that might indicate a fast-moving catastrophe on board, like an explosion or fire. The Aviation Herald published what it said were messages from the airplane’s Acars system, which transmits status messages about the plane to the manufacturer and to the airline’s maintenance base on the ground. The website said it received the data independently from three sources that it did not identify.

The report listed seven terse messages sent by the aircraft between 2:26 a.m. and 2:29 a.m. Cairo time, when it disappeared from radar. Some of the messages appeared to be alerts reporting smoke in a lavatory, smoke in the avionics bay of the plane and problems with several windows. The smoke warnings do not necessarily indicate a fire; those sensor warnings can also be set off by conditions like condensation from a sudden drop in air pressure.

The final two messages seemed to indicate failures of some of the computer systems that control the aircraft in flight. Acars messages are sent automatically without the crew’s having to take any action. The system reports the aircraft’s status at regular intervals, and sends additional messages when anomalies are detected. The messages often provide important clues in reconstructing what caused an aircraft to crash.

Aviation experts said the seven messages published by The Aviation Herald appeared to be consistent with genuine Acars messages. It was not known whether they constituted all the messages the aircraft sent at that time.

http://www.nytimes.com/live/egyptair-flight-missing-paris-cairo/aviation-website-cites/