Parts of the wreckage from the missing EgyptAir flight MS804 have been located roughly 290 KM off the coast of Alexandria, a spokesman from the Egyptian military confirmed on Friday.
According to reports, aircrafts and navy vessels from Greece and Egypt that had been dispatched to search for the missing plane found parts of debris and some personal
belongings from the passengers who had been on board.
The Egyptian Armed Forces have informed EGYPTAIR that they have found first debris from the missing aircraft operating flight MS804 #MS804
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 20, 2016
EgyptAir said that the search and rescue mission is still underway as aircrafts and navy vessels are continuing to search for the remainder of the wreckage.
The plane was flying from Paris to Cairo with 56 passengers and 10 crew members when it ‘disappeared’ early on Thursday.
EgyptAir flight MS804 took off at 11:09PM (Cairo time) and was scheduled to land at around 3:00AM.
According to Greece’s Civil Aviation Department, the passenger plane entered Greek airspace at 01:24AM (Cairo time) and checked in with the air traffic control sector at 01:48AM. At 02:27AM, the air traffic control tried and failed to make contact with flight MS804, despite repeated attempts. At 02:29AM, the plane left Greek airspace and entered Egyptian airspace. Exactly 40 seconds later, at 02:29:40 AM, the aircraft’s signal was lost.
It remains unclear what caused the plane to crash; Egypt’s Minister of Civil Aviation said that, while it is too early to conclusively determine the cause, authorities are not ruling out any scenario.
This story is developing.
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