EgyptAir Flight Crashes After Disappearing From Radar, No Causes Ruled Out

CAIRO (AP) -- Egyptian aviation officials say an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board has crashed after disappearing from radar Thursday morning.

They say the "possibility that the plane crashed has been confirmed," as the plane hasn't landed in any of the nearby airports. The search for debris is now underway.

Egypt's chief prosecutor Nabil Sadek says he has ordered an "urgent investigation" into the crash of the EgyptAir plane. Sadek instructed the National Security Prosecutor to open an "extensive investigation" in the incident.

Several countries have begun assisting in the search. Greece's defense minister, Panos Kammenos, says Greece has a submarine on standby which is participating in a NATO exercise about 100 miles (160 kms) away from the presumed crash area, while F-16 fighter jets stationed on Crete could also be used if necessary. France is providing Falcon navy support aircraft, he said, while Greece has contacted the US and Russia, and the American side has offered and Greece has accepted the help of a maritime support aircraft.

Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi stresses that Egypt doesn't rule out any possibilities in the crash of the EgyptAir flight including a "terrorist attack."

Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos says the EgyptAir flight made abrupt turns, suddenly lost altitude just before vanishing from radar shortly after entering Cairo's air traffic control area of responsibility.

Kammenos said the aircraft was 10-15 miles inside the Egyptian area and at an altitude of 37,000 feet. He says: "It turned 90 degrees left and then a 360- degree turn toward the right, dropping from 38,000 to 15,000 feet and then it was lost at about 10,000 feet," he said.

Greek civil aviation authorities say all appeared fine with the flight until the time when air traffic controllers were to hand it over to their Egyptian counterparts. The pilot did not respond to their calls, and the aircraft then vanished from radars. Kammenos' comments are the first indication of what might have happened after the aircraft entered Cairo's air traffic control space.

EgyptAir Flight 804 was lost from radar at 2:45 a.m. local time, the airline said. It was flying at 37,000 feet when it disappeared.

Authorities have set up a special crisis center at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport for families of passengers of the missing plane.

An EgyptAir plane was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus in March. A man who admitted to the hijacking and is described by Cypriot authorities as "psychologically unstable" is in custody in Cyprus.

The incident renewed security concerns months after a Russian passenger plane was blown out of the sky over the Sinai Peninsula. The Russian plane crashed in Sinai on Oct. 31, killing all 224 people on board. Moscow said it was brought down by an explosive device, and a local branch of the extremist Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for planting it.

In 1999, EgyptAir Flight 1990 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, killing all 217 people aboard, U.S. investigators filed a final report that concluded its co-pilot switched off the autopilot and pointed the Boeing 767 downward. But Egyptian officials rejected the notion of suicide altogether, insisting some mechanical reason caused the crash.

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