For more details, watch the full report in the video above
An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean south of Greece on Thursday, with Athens saying the plane swerved in mid-air before plunging from cruising height and vanishing.
Greek state television said aircraft debris had been found in the sea during a search for the missing Airbus A320. Earlier, Greek officials said pieces of plastic and two lifevests were found floating some 230 miles south of Crete.
The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers - with one child and two infants among them - and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries.
Egyptian authorities:
Officials were reluctant to speculate over the disappearance while the search was underway. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai peninsula last year.
But despite the caution, the country's aviation minister said a terrorist attack was more likely to have taken down the aircraft than a technical failure.
Details of the incident:
EgyptAir said on its Twitter account that Flight MS804 had departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST). It disappeared at 02:30 a.m. at an altitude of 37,000 feet in Egyptian air space, about 280 km (165 miles) from the Egyptian coast before it was due to land at 03:15 a.m.
Greek air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot as the jet flew over the island of Kea, in what was thought to be the last broadcast from the aircraft, and no problems were reported.
But just ahead of the handover to Cairo airspace, calls to the plane went unanswered, before it dropped off radars shortly after exiting Greek airspace, Kostas Litzerakis, the head of Greece's civil aviation department, told Reuters.
"During the transfer procedure to Cairo airspace, about seven miles before the aircraft entered the Cairo airspace, Greek controllers tried to contact the pilot but he was not responding," he said.
In Athens, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus had first swerved 90 degrees to the left, then spun through 360 degrees to the right. After plunging from 37,000 feet to 15,000, it vanished from Greek radar screens.
"At 3.39am (0039 GMT) the course of the aircraft was south and south-east of Kassos and Karpathos (islands)," the Greek minister said. "Immediately after, it entered Cairo FIR (flight information region) and made swerves and a descent I describe: 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right."
The Airbus plunged from 37,000 feet (11,280 meters) to 15,000 feet before vanishing from radar, he added.
Egyptian Civil Aviation minister Sherif Fathi said authorities had tried to resume contact but without success.
At one point EgyptAir said the plane had sent an emergency signal at 04:26 a.m., two hours after it disappeared from radar screens. However, Fathi said later that further checks found that no SOS was received.
The weather was clear at the time the plane disappeared, according to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic network.
Egypt to lead investigation committee:
Egypt will lead the official committee investigating the disappearance of an EgyptAir flight on its way to Cairo from Paris, Ayman al-Moqadem, the head of Egypt's Air Accidents Investigation department, said on Thursday.
The committee will also include France, which is both the manufacturing country of the Airbus 320 and the country with the second-largest number of victims on board after Egypt.
The committee will commence its search for the black boxes and gather evidence as soon as the remains of the plane are found. Britain and Greece have also offered to assist in the investigation, Moqadem said. He did not say if the offers were accepted.
French President Francois Hollande:
French President Francois Hollande also said the cause was unknown. "Unfortunately the information we have ... confirms to us that the plane came down and is lost," he said. "No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favored over another."
Families at Cairo airport:
At Cairo airport, authorities ushered families of the passengers and crew into a closed-off waiting area.
Two women and a man, who said they were related to a crew member, were seen leaving the VIP hall where families were being kept. Asked for details, the man said: "We don't know anything, they don't know anything. No one knows anything."
Ayman Nassar, from the family of one of the passengers, also walked out of the passenger hall with his daughter and wife in a distressed state. "They told us the plane had disappeared, and that they're still searching for it and not to believe any rumors," he said.
A mother of flight attendant rushed out of the hall in tears. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night. "They haven't told us anything," she said.
US crash investigation agency to assist in EgyptAir probe
The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will assist Egypt "as necessary" in its investigation into the disappearance of an EgyptAir jet from Paris to Cairo over the Mediterranean south of Greece on Thursday, a spokesman said.
Under United Nations rules, a country is allowed to assist in an aircraft accident probe if its engines were manufactured in that state. The EgyptAir plane, an Airbus A320, was equipped with International Aero Engines, a consortium led by US-based Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The NTSB is in communication with Pratt & Whitney on the issue, the spokesman said in a statement emailed to Reuters.
"We stand by to offer assistance," the spokesman said.
REUTERS