On Friday, the remains of an EgyptAir plane that went down in the Mediterranean Sea were found, the New York Times reported.
According to the reports, early Thursday morning EgyptAir Flight 804, an Airbus A320 jetliner, disappeared from radar screens. The plane had at least 66 passengers on board and was flying from Paris to Cairo. That same day, Greek defense minister, Panos Kammenos, said in a news conference that the jetliner plunged from cruising altitude while swerving violently and flying in a circle before it disappeared from the radar.
Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority reported at a news conference in Athens, on Friday, that at 1:48 a.m., Cairo time, Greek traffic controllers spoke for the last time with the pilot, who appeared to be in “good spirits” and the flight was proceeding normally. Nearly an hour after, at 2:27 a.m., the controllers in Athens weren’t able to reach the plane to pass control and communications to Cairo as the plane approached Egyptian airspace. Two minutes later, the plane left Greek airspace, and at 2:29:40 a.m., Greek controllers lost the aircraft’s trace inside Egyptian airspace.
As part of an international search-and-rescue flotilla, in which at least six countries participated, Egyptian naval vessels found humans remains, two seats, suitcases, and pieces of the plane in the Mediterranean Sea nearly 180 miles north of Alexandria, Egypt, the Greek defense minister and an Egyptian military spokesman said.
EGYPTAIR Official said that Egyptian Military and Marine Forces have discovered more debris /1
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 20, 2016
passengers’ belongings, body parts, luggage, and aircraft seats. Search is still in progress. /2
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 20, 2016
Egyptian Army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir said in statement posted on his Facebook page on Friday that they were completely sure that the debris belonged to the EgyptAir plane. In another statement published in Facebook, EgyptAir said that the Egyptian military informed them about the discovery and that the search continued.
In a statement issued by his office Friday, president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.
It remains uncertain if the crash was an act of terrorism
Egypt’s military said they fear the accident could be part of a terrorist attack.
The terrorism seemed to be a more probable cause for the disappearance than mechanical failure, Egypt’s minister of civil aviation, Sherif Fathi, said on Thursday. However, he cautioned that it was too early to get to that hypothesis. No militant group has assumed responsibility for the accident, as groups like ISIS did in the past in order to burnish their terrorist credentials and get more followers, The New York Times noted.
It appears to be another terrorist attack, tweeted U.S. Republican candidate for president, Donald Trump, after the plane’s disappearance news. “When will we get tough, smart and vigilant?” He asked in the same post. On her side, later in the day, Hillary Clinton, Donald’s likely Democratic rival, said that she also believes that the accident was an act of terrorism. But an investigation is needed to determine the details, she added.
According to what several US agencies told Reuters, a US review of satellite imagery hasn’t revealed any signs of an explosion. The US haven’t found proves of any possible causes for the accident, not mechanical failure, terrorism or a deliberate act by the pilot or crew, they said.
Source: NY Times