Tragedy struck over the Mediterranean Sea early Thursday morning, after an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board crashed off the Greek island of Crete, Egyptian and Greek officials said.
Experts are saying the crash is likely the result of terrorism, and U.S. officials have announced that they’re operating under the assumption the plane was taken down by a bomb.
Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos said EgyptAir flight 804 made abrupt turns and suddenly lost altitude — his exact words were “swerved and then plunged” — just before vanishing from radar at around 2.45 a.m. Egyptian time.
According to CNN, aviation expert Miles O’Brien said, “The fact that there was no communication — followed by erratic movement — leads us down the road to some sort of terror activity — that’s a high probability. It’s likely that you have some sense here that the plane was disabled in some way or there was some sort of struggle.”
Kammenos said the aircraft was 10-15 miles inside the Egyptian FIR 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,” he said.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to say whether a technical problem or a terror attack caused the plane to crash. “We cannot rule anything out,” he told reporters at Cairo airport.
EgyptAir said the Airbus A320 vanished 10 miles (16 kilometers) after it entered Egyptian airspace, around 280 kilometers (175 miles) off Egypt’s coastline north of the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. Their account fits closely with an account from Konstantinos Lintzerakos, director of Greece Civil Aviation Authority.
The airline said the Egyptian military had received an emergency signal from the aircraft, an apparent reference to an Emergency Locator Transmitter, or ELT, a battery powered device designed to automatically give out a signal in the event of a sudden loss of altitude or impact.
The Egyptian military denied it had received a distress call and Egypt’s state-run daily Al-Ahram quoted an airport official as saying the pilot did not send one. The newspaper did not identify the official.
The absence of a distress call suggests that whatever sent the aircraft plummeting into the Mediterranean was both sudden and brief.
Exploring the possibility that a terror attack brought down the aircraft, Egyptian security officials said they were running background checks on the passengers to see if any of them had links to extremists.
In Paris, the city’s prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the incident. “No hypothesis is favored or ruled out at this stage,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
All Egyptian officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The head of Greece’s air traffic controllers association, Serafeim Petrou, told The Associated Press that everything was operating normally prior to the plane’s disappearance from radar.
Egyptian military aircraft and navy ships were taking part in a search operation off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast to locate the debris of the plane, which was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two babies, and 10 crew members. The pilot had more than 6,000 flight hours.
Greece also joined the search and rescue operation, officials at the Hellenic National Defense General Staff said.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault offered to send military planes and boats to join the Egyptian search for wreckage.
“We are at the disposition of the Egyptian authorities with our military capacities, with our planes, our boats to help in the search for this plane,” he said. He spoke after French President Francois Hollande held an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace.
Later, the French military said a Falcon surveillance jet monitoring the Mediterranean for migrants had been diverted to help search for the EgyptAir plane. Military spokesman Col. Gilles Jaron told The Associated Press that the jet is joining the Egypt-led search effort, and the French navy may send another plane and a ship to the zone.
Hollande spoke with Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on the phone and agreed to “closely cooperate to establish as soon as possible the circumstances” surrounding the incident, according to a statement issued in Paris.
In Cairo, el-Sissi convened an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, the country’s highest security body. The council includes the prime minister and the defense, foreign and interior ministers, in addition to the chiefs of the intelligence agencies.
Those on board, according to EgyptAir, included 15 French passengers, 30 Egyptians, two Iraqis, one Briton, one Kuwaiti, one Saudi, one Sudanese, one Chadian, one Portuguese, one Belgian, one Algerian and one Canadian. Ayrault confirmed that 15 French citizens were on board.
Around 15 relatives of passengers on board the missing flight arrived at Cairo airport Thursday morning. Airport authorities brought doctors to the scene after several distressed family members collapsed.
In Paris, relatives of passengers on the EgyptAir flight started arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside the French capital, where their loved ones were last seen alive.
A man and a woman, identified by airport staff as relatives of the flight’s passengers, sat at an information desk near the EgyptAir counter at Charles de Gaulle Airport’s Terminal 1. The woman was sobbing, holding her face in a handkerchief. The pair were led away by police and airport staff and did not speak to gathered journalists.
The Airbus A320 is a widely used twin-engine, single-aisle plane that operates on short and medium-haul routes. Nearly 4,000 A320s are currently in use around the world. The ubiquity of the A320 means the plane has been involved in several accidents over the years. The last deadly crash involving the plane was Germanwings Flight 9525, in which all 150 onboard died when one of the pilots intentionally crashed it in the French Alps.
Airbus said the aircraft was delivered to EgyptAir in 2003 and had logged 48,000 flight hours before it “was lost” over the Mediterranean. The European plane-maker said in a statement Thursday that it had engines made by Swiss-based engine consortium IAE, and had the serial number 2088.
An EgyptAir plane was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus in March. A man who admitted to the hijacking and is described by Cypriot authorities as “psychologically unstable” is in custody in Cyprus.
The incident renewed security concerns at Egyptian airports after a Russian passenger plane crashed in Sinai last October, killing all 224 people on board. Moscow said it was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for planting it.
In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 990 crashed into the Atlantic near the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, killing all 217 people aboard. U.S. investigators filed a final report that concluded its co-pilot switched off the autopilot and pointed the Boeing 767 downward. Egyptian officials rejected the notion of suicide altogether, insisting some mechanical reason caused the crash.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Stopped for directions?
TSA Agents and U.S. airport workers are reportedly very loosely vetted, with news reports that several employee’s who work at airports are actually listed on the “no fly’ list… Ridiculous if that true!
More than ridiculous, criminal.
Sounds like workplace violence again.
Awaiting moderation? Please get off the PC crap. Call it what it is.
Sounds like “workplace violence”.
Just like TWA flight 800?
It probably is. It is tragic. Countries are not taking the bad guys seriously enough. Innocent people are getting killed. I will not fly anymore. Just won’t do it.
Flying is foolish these days and the terrorists are less of a problem than the perverts in government agencies like the TSA. I flew last to St. Louis and had TSA agent dislike extended by their actions . I am driving from Massachusetts to Georgia for a 50th Vietnam Reunion but it is less dangerous at unmanned road rest areas( which are no bargains either in the wee hours of the late evening or early morning than it is in airports, in my opinion. This entire country has become a total travesty since 2008. Trump in 2016 and BEYOND. We need a little Law and Order. Hell, We need a LOT of Law and Order and COMMON SENSE and we will NEVER get it from this Administration, the worst I’ve SEEN in my 71 years! Like Deborah Robinson says: I will fly nom more, I just WON’T do it!
I agree with you 100% I am a veteran and I will be voting for Donald Trump for president 2016
Allen You are a good man.
Good man because a veteran, not because of voting for a quack! Us natives will have to start loading up u illegals and send back to the Eurozone if gets elected and imposes his own illegal immigration that was imposed on us!
Thank you or whomever you know for serving our Country.
Bad Moon On The Rise with this nonsense.
The “Shadow” Theme song. And “The Shadow Knows”. Illinois Bob, were you one?
I won’t fly anymore either. Driving from FL to NE this M Day weekend. It’s safer and less stress.
Not too worry, the Pencil necked geek from Nairobi will use his pen and his phone to call in a useless new law or two before he decides to issues a few more Executive Orders. That should make Americans feel better, NOT.
Is that the kind of Law and Order that you had in mind?
Obama is a President of truly historic proportions because he is worse for the US Economy than Herbert Hoover ever dared to be.
He is going to be in our face till he is out of office. His gender nullification rules for bathrooms and showers in our schools and public places is just the beginning. The Republications just knocked down a Democrat bill that would have forced women to register for the draft. He is flooding the country with illegal immigrants we can’t afford. Yet he spends millions on vacations and just upped his salary and retirement. It’s his aim to have so much going on we can’t keep track of it. That’s when he slips the @#$%^ stuff in before anyone reads it.
O to get back to the bush years with deficits beyond belief and economy in a spiral. unemployment highest in history. Endless wars profitable for cronies only.
Need another intellectual constitutional lawyer black to clean up the aisles! That or a Mexican or a corn tassle head!! Can t wait to hand him a mop like we did the last one. What a Country!!
I am with you. I love to fly, but not aboard a commercial ever again!
Flying is foolish these days and the terrorists are less of a problem than the perverts in government agencies like the TSA. I flew last to St. Louis and had TSA agent dislike extended by their actions . I am driving from Massachusetts to Georgia for a 50th Vietnam Reunion but it is less dangerous at unmanned road rest areas( which are no bargains either in the wee hours of the late evening or early morning than it is in airports, in my opinion. This entire country has become a total travesty since 2008. Trump in 2016 and BEYOND. We need a little Law and Order. Hell, We need a LOT of Law and Order and COMMON SENSE and we will NEVER get it from this Administration, the worst I’ve SEEN in my 71 years! Like Deborah Robinson says: I will fly nom more, I just WON’T do it!
And yet not ONE WORD from B Hussein ofama!!! Crickets at the white house! Interesting isn’t it???
I wonder if president FAILURE will join the ISIS terrorists when he leaves office? He needs a new job!
LOL. Love the name President Failure, haven’t heard that one before
He is the Father of ISIS
Issuing orders & directives from His throne on the UN.
Needs a new job? Actually I believe he has been working for THEM since before he was sent to D.C….Maybe the main leader? The INSTRUCTIONS persons…….SOMETHING! He just keeps well into the background…I have no idea, but anytime something happens…..he acts weird! Does not speak out to fast! We all know he defends them! These things add up in my book! Think about it!
I have never heard another person stating thiis. I thought he was a Plant….a puppet for “them” from Day One. Think about it…….has he ever inspired us or really make any decisions in time of conflict. He talks in circles and postures…..like a puppet!
U might be right. And Osama BL will resurrect and save the Christians, as he was really not killed by our leader, instead W ordered his demise from Crawford! Talk about reality, instead of conspiracy!!
He can’t respond with any legitimate authority to actual national events. He’s too busy scheming his next irrelevant social decree in an attempt to foster further chaos in the U.S. He is a total fraud. We don’t know his real name, where he was actually born or who his parents really were. George Soros and other globalists totally fabricated this guy.
It wasn’t a U.S. Airline. It didn’t happen in any U.S. Territories. So WTF does it have to do with Obama???
It isn’t happening here you Morons!!!!
If some American citizens where on board , and it was a terrorist act ; then don`t expect any condemnation of the terrorist from 0bama…………….
Correct! and why should he? He s not president of the world like all others….
Bruce, you time is coming idiot, your tyrant King is showing no leadership once again. It has everything to do with Obama. The Marxist you worship knows the Arabs are @ their evil one again and Obama doesn’t want the negitive at tension directed @ his fellow pagan worshippers
Learn to write would you please.
Right on, I hope Bruce will pray for the flight victims at his next visit to his mosque!
You idiot – terriorism/Ovomite
We must have military in the area. No mention of them offering help, wierd.
Bruce, It matters because he is the king leader of terrorists, Radical Muslims, and idiots like you. A*&(&^ hole.
Bruce….HE STICKS AMERICA’S NOSE IN EVERYTHING!!!!! I think that is why remarks are here. Why are you so defensive???
His birth was chosen and his childhood perfectly conditioned and almost everything has gone as planned. A big success against freedom.
Youre so on point
I agree with you
The DC DICTATOR….The ILLEGAL SQUATTER in the White House….Is TOO BUSY Playing his Many Rounds of GOOOOOOOOOOF…..and Writing more DESTRUCTIVE Executive Orders….
The very FIRST thing needs to be a background check of all Muslims on—in –or around that plane !!!!
hahahahaha …I knew someone would drag Obama into it. Now we just need someone to start the “black” thing. Totally unbelievable.
You’re a total idiot Donna. I guess you’ll be supporting your woman hero Hillary.
You just did.
You might be right about the black thing progressive race card baiter. The best part is your white, so how does that effect you? Also, to correct your total ignorance. You hero dictator Marxist Obama is NOT Black idiot. Obama is the first biracial president. Since your so well educated, explain how a person with parents of 2 different races is considered one? Is their a extra black chromosome that makes Obama black rather than mixed? Do you have some special chart that has obama to be more black than white? Progressive asshole loon you are Donna, you and your progressive loons are in trouble.
It’s been policy since before the civil war to consider a person black if a certain percentage (don’t recall that exact percentage) of their heritage
derives from a black progenitor. It probably hasn’t changed.
Please use there and their appropriately,
Please don’t use the the Beautiful Loon in a disparaging, way. Loons have nothing to do with the disgusting human race, and the evil that spews forth from it.
Would the ObamaNation that occupies the White House be better called a Blight? (that which is between black and white), :- But definitely a blight of a human scumbag American flag burning party goer who’s wife went with him to the flag burning parties. Check it out on Snopes.
Not unbelievable, Donna, perfectly understandable, as I said to Bruce above
Is it? heartbreaking ..! Can we be protected from it happening here ? and how? Trump ? or Hillary ?? ha …. Who will you take a chance on …?
Considering the changes in direction it is likely that terrorism is going to be the cause behind this plane’s ending.
High scholars think intelligently like President Obama the American historical communicator without a paper in his suite( coat) like those we know, the reading scholars who want to steal from we the taxpayers.
That’s logical, but it’s still early………….
Blame ex president Bush he get’s blamed for everything. Really…. let’s wait and see what the facts turn up before passing judgement, once the facts are in and we know for sure then we need to deal with the people responsible. Just my opinion.
Thank Sam. You are a voice of sanity. Keep it up.
And Obama insists we invite his ‘brothers’ in here , without any background check. Is Obama the Muslim’s TROJAN HORSE”?
Nope, just the south end of their north going horse?
How could we, the American people,vote into office a man with a middle name, Hussein, so soon after 9/ll. Americans have short memories. And, now we will have a generation of voters who know nothing about 9/11 and what led up to it.
And, about Reverend Wright. I don’t think Obama heard his speeches because Obama is not a Christian. He only “turned” Christian for political reasons. That was Michelle’s Church.
I think Liberals are dangerous and stupid, both in brain and morals. Imagine despite of the fact that Islam terrorists have multiplied and have taken millions of lives of innocent people, when they have opportunities, liberals still cuddle them and spread them around the innocent people that they victimize until dead.
Even Rome brought Muslims to their land, fact that Christians are being slaughtered every day in the Middle East. They should have saved the Christians being killed by Islam people. I really don’t understand liberal brains. I think they are as dangerous as terrorists.
They each share a broad sense of lawlessness and thrill at defeating Christians & Conservatives.
Hillary ClintonVerified account
@HillaryClinton
“Let’s be clear: Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.”
What a JOKE
Islam Muslims are not peaceful or Tolerant, they are goat humping animals that rape young girls and marry 6 year old girls and rape boys and they all follow the Koran and it says to betriend a infidel and kill him when you get the chance. It is time for all Americans to open their eyes and mind to the fact if a Muslim follows the Koran they are not a good muslim. American s have to stop wishing everything as far a Terrorist will just go away if you are nice. They hate us. With Hillary we will have more of them and for some strange reason American senior women are afraid or just refuse to look back at Hillary’s beginning in Arkansas and this is before Fox news so you can not blame them for Hillary’s and Bills past.
Dear Al, I am a Senior woman that WILL be voting for Donald Trump. Please stop saying Senior women, promote Hillary Clinton.
Only in your imagination do Senior women blindly endorse Clinton. This Senior woman is voting for Donald Trump. And I also want to know why this country allows perverse males from Africa to mutilate their girl children is this Country? They should be in prison, not coddled as all these men are. Its sickening and Criminal. If women were doing the same to boys, there would be outrage on all the medias.
Hillary, has too much sun, or not enough MUSLIMS, not talking women an children,,men the young men .,They hate Americans,an will kill , given any chance.We need her as pres,,as I need 2 claydales to pull the lawn mower.
To F Mitchell – That would be Clydesdales. You are right about some things; the rest of your post I don’t understand.
It looks like the Flight 990 invstigation needs to be reopened and the identified cause classified as confirmed or conjecture.
Jim
I believe Isis is testing the hacking of the aircrafts’ controls. Like when you have a toy airplane and command it by control remote… And they are succeeding…
Leo-
I believe Isis is testing the hacking of the aircrafts’ controls. Like when you have a toy airplane and command it by remote control… And they are succeeding…
Quite possible; anyone in the know is hip to the fact that commercial jets have RF chips embedded in their operating systems SPECIFICALLY to deal with hijacking scenarios, in which remote operators take charge of aircraft – and this tech has been available for many decades, at least 20 years prior to 911 – and indeed, many researchers believe that the aircraft that slammed into the Towers, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania were complete demonstrations of this power.
I believe you are spot on about the 09-11-01 aircraft and remote control.
The $64 question is, “Who was at the controls?”
Inquiring minds already know. Scares me, and I’m fearless.
Someone who had access to the plane may have attached a time device bomb to the switch that would be used by
the pilot when he changed radio frequencies to Egyptian control.
It’s time to take these suckers out. Send in the big artillery. Quit screwing around!
Usually terrorists do not choose small planes, but rather jumbo jets. The major nations of the world must organize and relentlessly fight against the Islamic Jihad while they’re still limited in number. Sadly, Nostradamus was right.
FLYING for me? The chances are about 1 times 10 to the 127th power! NO chance at all! The last time I flew was in 2001 w/my son and we went to Disney and when the man put his hands where ONLY my wife need attempt, I told the man, that is NOT going to happen, YOU will not touch me like that! It was a mess, but, the bastard did not touch me! I will NOT be groped like some homosexual! Flying is OUT! To hell w/flying!
WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE GENESIS OF ISIS ????
G.W.BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND THE CLOWNS IN HIS INNER CIRCLE
(They caused the dissemination of the middle east,and now foolishly we have
been trying to decapitate Dr Assad -president of Syria-……why ?? what did he do to us?
ATTEMPTS TO “DISLODGE” HIM WOULD FURTHER THROW THE MIDDLE EAST
INTO WORSE TURMOIL.IF HE FALLS,SYRIA WOULD BE LIKE IRAQ(WHICH WE HAVE
THROWN INTO LAWLESS LAND} HAVE WE NOT AN IOTA OF COMPASSION FOR THE
MISERABLE DEATH OF MILLIONS OF MEN,WOMEN,AN POOR CHILDREN ……..
DONALD TRUMP IS 200% RIGHT IN STATING GOING TO IRAQ WAS A GRAVE ERROR !!
Expand TSA to cover IE background check Airline & Airport employees with Plane acess ID alone.
A-Z to acess planes after landing & Turnaround alone.
Nationwide
Rethink passenger screening.
Automate luggage X ray scanning & pat downs
More can be done.
Plane went down due to
Bomb pre loaded into plane
OR passenger luggage??
IE Check in Bag??
Both by airline, airport employees.
DEMO COMOS ARE WRONG UGLY WOMEN’S LIVES MATTER.
IMAGINE THE AUDACITY OF DOPE SAYING UGLY WOMEN DON’T COUNT. FLAT CHESTED WOMEN DON’T COUNT. DID YOU KNOW THAT FLAT CHESTED WOMEN ARE COMPENSATED WITH A HIGHER EROTICISM?
GOD TAKES CARE OF EVERYBODY. THE CARDINAL RULE OF CHIVALRY IS THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN UGLY WOMAN. WHEN I SEE THOSE SKINNY MODELS WITH THE HEROIN LOOK. MY FIRST REACTION IS TO DO CPR. RUN THEM INTO MCDONALDS AND START FRENCH FRY REHAB. TWO MALTS AND 50 CHICKEN WINGS.. SHE IS COMING BACK.
DEMOCRATS HATE WOMEN AND PAY THEM 40% LESS. BEWARE OF ANY DEMOCRAT WHO SAYS SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. NEVER TRUST DEMOCRATS WITH KITTENS, PUPPIES SEALS AND KIDS.
HEY. BOYS AND GIRLS. IF YOU SEE A MAN IN A DRESS IN THE BATHROOM CALL MOMMY AND THE COPS. MAYBE IT IS JUST US MAINSTREAM AMERICANS BUT WHEN I SEE ELDERLY WOMEN I TRY TO IMAGINE WHAT THEY LOOKED LIKE IN THEIR YOUTH. TELL ME THAT’S NOT BEAUTIFUL.
EVERYBODY SING THE PRO LIFE SONG. YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY.
BEST PRESIDENT WE EVER HAD.GIVE ME THAT SHOPPING BAG. OK TO THROW UP IN THIS?
OH IF WE COULD ONLY GET OUR COUNTRY BACK. THE ONE WE LOST OVER EIGHT YEARS.
OBAMA BIN LENIN BIN LADEN. THANKS FOR NUTTIN.
THE BEST PRESIDENT WE EVER HAD. WHAT DID HE DO? TURNED THE COUNTRY HE DIVIDED COMMUNIST. HE VIOLATED ARTICLE 99 OF THE UCMJ. COWARDICE IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY AND IN THE MIRROR.
HE LOST EVERY WAR,HE LOST A NAVY. GAVE THE MID EAST BALANCE OF POWER TO RUSSIA. LEFT AMERICANS TO DIE, LEFT SAILORS TO CRY. MADE THE BIGGEST DOPE DEAL WITH CUBA HE.ARMED THE ISRAELI KILLING IRANIANS, THE AMERICAN KILLING IRANIUMS, ALLOWED MILLIONS OF CRIMINALS TO POUR INTO THE USA. RELEASED DOPE DEALERS FROM PRISON TO HANDLE THE HEROIN OVERFLOW. TURNED THE DEMOCRAT PARTY INTO THE PARTY OF NO GOD, NO COUNTRY, NO FLAG, NO ANTHEM AND NO KIDS. DENIED PEOPLE OF COLOR CANDIDATES TO CAMPAIGN FOR THE DEMO COMO THRONE.DEMEANS THE TITLE AMERICAN.THANKS FOR MAKING THE NAVY POW CAPTIVES CRY.
IS THERE A MONUMENT TO HIS GLORY? MANY, IN ALL THE THREE SEXES BATHROOMS THAT USE AMERICAN STANDARD BOWLS. HOW CAN WE FLUSH AWAY THIS ABOMINATION?
SEND IN TRUMP.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/spiritofamericapartybook/2016/04/13/trump-is-love
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Trump.
Awesome more airport security coming soon.
Airport security is a joke. They are lay people without any law enforement background. Anyone in law enforcement can just “size” someone up and know if “something is not right”. It’s a sense they have from much training. Why not hire retired law enforcement personnel not “everyday people”. What a joke.
Ok so I just read on shoebat.com that the pilot of MS804 is part of a Muslim Brotherhood Jihadi group and one of many responsible for killing Americans in Benghazi. Also, one of the flight attendants posted a picture on Facebook a year ago that has a plane in the background going into the ocean and a flight attendant coming out of the water with a piece of luggage?? Let me know your thoughts on these 2 findings.