Latest on MS804: Mayday call before flames in the sky seen

The Greece and Egyptian navy and air force are searching waters in between Greece and Egypt. Latest reports say the plane may have gone down over water.

Egyptian aviation officials told AP an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board had crashed.

The officials say the search is now underway for the debris. They say the “possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed,” as the plane hasn’t landed in any of the nearby airports.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

French authorities are currently holding emergency meetings at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris.

Egypt Air confirmed the pilot sent a distress call. A captain of a freighter ship told FOX news he saw “flames in the sky.”

The flight had departed Charles Du Gaulle airport in Paris, France, at 23:09 GMT (11:09 AM NZT), and it was expected to land in Cairo at about 3:15 am Cairo time.

According to a tweet received by Egypt Air, the passengers’ nationalities are as follows:

– 15 French
– 30 Egyptian
– 1 British
– 1 Belgium
– 2 Iraqis
– 1 Kuwaiti
– 1 Saudi

Among them – 2 infants and a child.

The airline has set up a phone number for relatives of those onboard looking for information: +202 259 89320 outside Egypt or from mobiles in Egypt, or 0800 7777 0000 from any landline within Egypt.

eTN reported earlier:

Egypt is tremendously suffering when it comes to air safety. After a Russian jet with tourists from Sharm El Sheikh was blown out of the sky by a bomb, another possible terror alert is ongoing.

This time it involves Star Alliance member Egypt Air on a scheduled flight from Paris to Cairo that may be another tragedy.

According to CNN, three Air Marshalls were also on board, which is unusual.

The captain has 6,000 hours of flight experience. The co-pilot has more than 4,000 hours in the cockpit. The aircraft was put in service in 2003 and no dangerous cargo was on board.

Egyptair’s Twitter account states the missing plane was at 37,000 feet when it disappeared 10 miles into Egyptian airspace. This altitude is one of the safest and a sudden technical crash flying at this altitude is very unlikely.