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EgyptAir flight: Search intensifiesfor missing plane

Relatives of some of the victims gathered at Cairo airport on Thursday, and some remainedon Friday

A massive search is continuing for a second day for anEgyptAir plane that disappeared over the Mediterranean.

Greek, Egyptian, French and UK military units are taking part inthe operation near Greece's Karpathos island.

AP

EgyptAir flight: Search intensifies for missing p... http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36...

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Flight MS804 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66passengers and crew when it vanished early on Thursday.

Greece said radar showed the Airbus A320 had made twosharp turns and dropped more than 25,000ft (7,620m) beforeplunging into the sea.

Egypt says the plane was more likely to have been broughtdown by a terrorist act than a technical fault.

But, more than 24 hours since the plane dropped off radars, nogroup has said it was behind its disappearance.

Live: Latest updates

What we know

Who were the victims?

EgyptAir's troubled recent history

Most of the people on board Flight MS804 were from Egypt andFrance. A Briton was also among the passengers.

The latest on the search

REUTERS


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Egyptian military ships, assisted by several other nations, are scouring the vastarea for any signs of the plane's wreckage

So far, no wreckage or debris from the aircraft has been found.

Initial reports late on Thursday, based on Egyptian officials'comments that wreckage had been found, later provedunfounded.

Greece's lead air accident investigator Athanasios Binis saiditems including lifejackets found near Karpathos were not fromthe Airbus A320.

"An assessment of the finds showed that they do not belong toan aircraft," he said.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has ordered thecountry's civil aviation ministry, army-run search-and-rescuecentre, navy and air force to take all necessary measures tolocate the wreckage.

At the scene - Kevin Connolly, BBC News, Cairo

The mood in the Cairo airport hotel, where the families of someof the bereaved have gathered, is grim.

REUTERS


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They now face a very personal and agonising search foranswers that can't really begin until the search for the wreckageof the aircraft starts to yield results.

Many relatives - French and Egyptian - have gathered to hear abriefing from senior government officials about the state of therecovery operation.

It is a closed meeting with polite but firm security officerskeeping journalists away from the conference room where it'sbeing held.

It seems likely that the government doesn't yet have much tooffer by way of concrete information, having rowed back from aclaim yesterday that wreckage from the stricken aircraft hadbeen found.

The focus of the investigation

So far, there has been "absolutely no indication" as to why theplane came down, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayraultsaid on Friday morning.

Three investigators from the French air accident investigationbureau, along with a technical adviser from Airbus, are joiningthe Egyptian inquiry.


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In France, the focus is on whether a possible breach of securityhappened at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.

After last November's Paris attacks, some airport staff had theirsecurity clearance revoked over fears of links to Islamicextremists.

Eric Moucay, a lawyer for some of those employees, told theBBC that there had been attempts by Islamists to recruit airportstaff.

"That is clear. There are people who are being radicalised insome of the trade unions etc. The authorities have their workcut out with this problem," he said.

In October an Airbus A321 operated by Russia's Metrojet blewup over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing all 224 people on board.Sinai Province, a local affiliate of the Islamic State jihadistgroup, said it had smuggled a bomb on board.

French President Francois Hollande said: "We will drawconclusions when we have the truth about what happened.

"Whether it was an accident, or whether it was - and it'ssomething that is on our minds - terrorism."

What do we know happened?

Flight MS804 left Paris at 23:09 local time on Wednesday(21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptiancapital soon after 03:15 local time (01:15 GMT) on Thursday.


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Aviation experts give their views on what may have happened to EgyptAir flightMS804

On the plane were 56 passengers, seven crew members andthree security personnel.

Greek aviation officials say air traffic controllers spoke to thepilot when he entered Greek airspace and everything appearednormal.

They tried to contact him again at 02:27 Cairo time, as theplane was set to enter Egyptian airspace, but "despite repeatedcalls, the aircraft did not respond". Two minutes later itvanished from radar.


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What happened to flight MS804? Richard Westcott examines the evidence sofar

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos told reporters: "Thepicture we have at the moment of the accident as it emergesfrom the Greek air force operations centre is that the aircraftwas approximately 10-15 miles inside the Egyptian FIR [flightinformation region] and at an altitude of 37,000 feet.

"It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn toward theright, dropping from 37,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lostat about 10,000 feet."


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Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi said: "Let's not try tojump to the side that is trying to identify this as a technicalfailure - on the contrary.

"If you analyse the situation properly, the possibility of having adifferent action, or having a terror attack, is higher than thepossibility of having a technical [fault]."

Aviation analyst Alex Macheras told the BBC that Airbus A320swere regularly used for short-haul budget flights and had "anamazing safety record".

Who were the victims?

The names of some of those who were on board have emergedover the past day, but most have not been identified publicly.

Those said to be on board include:

Richard Osman, a 40-year-old geologist and father-of-twofrom South Wales;

Canadian national Marwa Hamdy, named in Canada's press

66people on board - 56 passengers, seven crew members and threesecurity personnel

EgyptAir flight MS804Passengers' nationalities

30 Egyptians

15 French citizens

2 Iraqis

1 from Britain, Canada, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan,Chad and Portugal

Source: EgyptAir PA


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as an executive with IBM originally from Saskatchewan, butwho had relocated to Cairo;

an unnamed couple in their 40s from Angers in north-westFrance, as well as their two children;

Ahmed Helal, the Egyptian-born manager of a Procter andGamble plant in Amiens, northern France

Read more on some of the MS804 victims here

If anyone is concerned about relatives or friends following thedisappearance of the flight, they can call this free numberprovided by EgyptAir: +202 259 89320

Have you been affected by the issues raised in this

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