EgyptAir Flight Disappeared Into Airspace

The EgyptAir flight plane had been 10 miles into Egyptian airspace, over the Mediterranean Sea, when it disappeared.

A search is under way for an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo which has disappeared with fifty-six passengers and ten crew on board including one British national.

The fate of the plane is not yet known and officials have said it is too early to rule out any possibility, including terrorism. 

Flight MS804 departed the French capital at 11.09pm (CEST) before vanishing.

The airline said the plane lost contact with radar at 2.45am Cairo time (1.45am BST). It was last in touch 10 minutes earlier.

At that stage the Airbus A320, which was 13 years old and had logged 48,000 flight hours, was about three hours and 40 minutes into the four-hour journey and flying at 37,000ft.

Military search and rescue teams picked up an automated signal from the plane's emergency beacon at 4.26am Cairo time (3.26am BST) - around 80 minutes after it was supposed to land in Cairo. It is thought this may have been triggered on impact.

Thirty Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, a Belgian, Kuwaiti, Saudi, Sudanese, Chadian, Algerian, Portuguese and Canadian are among the passengers which also include one child and two babies.

Greece has joined special teams from the Egyptian armed forces in the search for the jet and deployed one C-130, an early warning aircraft, a frigate and helicopters. France is also sending boats and planes.

All vessels near the Greek island of Karpathos have been asked to help. Bulk carrier Oceanus reported seeing no debris or fuel.

Greek civil aviation authorities said the jet disappeared off its radar two minutes after leaving its airspace. Prior to that, its air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot who reported no problems.