UPDATE 9.00pm: French Prime Minister, François Hollande, has confirmed the missing EgyptAir plane crashed in the Mediterranean.
During a press conference, the leader said information gathered by the ministers of the government confirmed suspicions that the A320 went down.
Search continues to locate the missing aircraft and its 66 passengers.
EgyptAir said in a Twitter post that the reason for the disappearance is yet to be determined.
However, Greek Defence Minister, Panos Kammenos, said the plane made a sharp turn and a descent before it fell off the radar, BBC reported.
4.00pm: EgyptAir has confirmed it lost contact with Flight MS804 today as the aircraft was travelling over the Mediterranean Sea from Paris to Cairo.
The A320 departed Paris on Wednesday evening and was 280KM (40 minutes) from the Egyptian seacoast when it disappeared at 2.30am CLT. The plane was scheduled to land at Cairo Airport at 3.15am CLT.
EgyptAir has confirmed the nationality of all passengers. They were made up of 15 French; 30 Egyptian; two Iraqis; plus individuals from the UK, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.
The airline’s Vice Chairman, Ahmed Abdel, told CNN that there was no distress call made from the plane and there were “no recorded snags coming out of Cairo”.
Egyptian air navigation authority, Ehab Mohy el-Deen confirmed the airline’s position, saying the plane “vanished”.
Mohy el-Deen added that it was too soon to speculate on the cause, but stressed, “this is not normal”.
EgyptAir said in a Facebook statement that it has set up a crisis center to follow up with the concerned authorities and will release any additional information once it is available.
“EGYPTAIR has hosted the passengers’ families near to Cairo Airport and has provided doctors, translators and all the necessary services to the passengers’ family members during their stay at Cairo Airport.”
EgyptAir
The A320 is believed to have been around 12 years old and the captain had recorded more than 6,000 flying hours.
