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CAIRO (AP) — An EgyptAir jetliner bound from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early today after what authorities call a mysterious series of extremely abrupt turns.
Egypt's aviation minister says it may have been a terrorist attack. There are no immediate signs of any survivors.
EgyptAir Flight 804 was an Airbus A320 carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members. It went down about halfway between the Greek island of Crete and Egypt's northern coastline after takeoff from Charles de Gaulle Airport.
Greece's defense minister says the plane spun all the way around and suddenly lost altitude just before vanishing from radar screens around 2:45 a.m. Egyptian time.
In Cairo, Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi cautioned that the disaster is still under investigation. But he said the possibility it was a terror attack "is higher than the possibility of having a technical failure."
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.
Egyptian military aircraft and ships are searching for debris and victims from the plane, whose passengers included two babies and a child. Greek, French and British authorities also joined the operation.
%@AP Links
169-w-34-(Sagar Meghani (SAH'-gur meh-GAH'-nee), AP national security correspondent, with Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi and former CIA and Pentagon official Jeremy Bash and and pilot John Cox)--Authorities are looking into whether terrorism brought down an EgyptAir jet. AP National Security Correspondent Sagar Meghani reports from the Pentagon. (19 May 2016)
<<CUT *169 (05/19/16)££ 00:34
164-a-11-(John Cox, CEO, Safety Operating Systems, in AP interview)-"what happened here"-Aviation safety expert John Cox says he believes it won't take long for investigators to determine why EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean Sea. (19 May 2016)
<<CUT *164 (05/19/16)££ 00:11 "what happened here"
155-a-17-(Sajjan Gohel (SAH'-zhahn GOH'-hehl), director for international security, Asia Pacific Foundation, in AP interview)-"time will tell"-Security analyst Sajjan Gohel says he's curious about the pair of abrupt turns made by EgyptAir Flight 804 in the moments before it crashed. ((note cut length)) (19 May 2016)
<<CUT *155 (05/19/16)££ 00:17 "time will tell"
143-a-15-(Greg Feith (fyth), former investigator, National Transportation Safety Board, in interview)-"that abrupt turn"-Former NTSB investigator Greg Feith says the EgyptAir flight that crashed made 'abrupt turns' and suddenly lost altitude just before disappearing from radar. COURTESY: NBC's "Today" show ((mandatory on-air credit)) (19 May 2016)
<<CUT *143 (05/19/16)££ 00:15 "that abrupt turn"
147-r-15-(Sound of French President Francois Hollande, speaking in French, at news conference)--Sound of French President Francois Hollande, speaking in French, saying nothing is ruled out in the crash of the EgyptAir flight. (19 May 2016)
<<CUT *147 (05/19/16)££ 00:15
GRAPHICSBANK: EGYPT and FRANCE shaded relief map highlighted with CAIRO and PARIS locators, with MISSING PLANE lettering, finished graphic (19 May 2016)
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