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| The disappearance of flight MS804, an Airbus A320 Image source: mailonline UK |
Search teams scoured the
Mediterranean Sea on Friday, hunting for wreckage of an EgyptAir jet carrying
66 people that disappeared in a crash that Egypt said may have been caused by a
terrorist attack.
Reuters
report continues:
No
group had claimed responsibility more than 24 hours after the disappearance of
flight MS804, an Airbus A320 that was flying from Paris to Cairo.
Three
French investigators and a technical expert from Airbus arrived in Cairo early
on Friday to help investigate the fate of the missing plane, airport sources
said.
Egyptian
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said it was too early to rule out any explanation
for the disaster, while the country's aviation minister said a terrorist attack
was more likely than a technical failure.
There
was confusion over the discovery of possible debris, with Egyptian officials
initially saying Greek authorities had found "floating material" and
life jackets likely to be from the plane.
However,
EgyptAir Vice President Ahmed Adel told CNN late on Thursday that the wreckage
had not been found.
"We
stand corrected on finding the wreckage because what we identified is not a
part of our plane. So the search and rescue is still going on," Adel said.
Greek
defence sources told Reuters the material was discovered in the sea 370 km (230
miles) south of the island of Crete.
Egyptian
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered the civil aviation ministry, the army's
search and rescue centre, the navy, and the air force to take all necessary
measures to locate debris from the aircraft.
In
a statement issued by his office, Sisi also ordered an investigative committee
formed by the civil aviation ministry to immediately start investigating the
causes of the plane's disappearance.
Officials
from multiple U.S. agencies told Reuters that a U.S. review of satellite
imagery so far had not produced any signs of an explosion aboard the EgyptAir
flight.
The
U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the conclusion was
the result of a preliminary examination of imagery and cautioned against media
reports suggesting the United States believed a bomb was responsible for the
crash.
They
said the United States has not ruled out any possible causes for the crash,
including mechanical failure, terrorism or a deliberate act by the pilot or
crew.
Amid
uncertainty about what brought down the plane, Los Angeles International
Airport became the first major U.S. air transportation hub to say it was
stepping up security measures.
PLANE
SWERVED RADICALLY
Greece
deployed aircraft and a frigate to search for the missing plane. Egypt said it
would lead the investigation and France would participate.
Greek
Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved radically and plunged
from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.
According
to Greece's civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to
MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared
from radar screens soon afterwards.
There
was no official indication of a possible cause, whether technical failure,
human error or sabotage.
Ultra-hardline
Islamists have targeted airports, airliners and tourist sites in Europe, Egypt,
Tunisia and other Middle Eastern countries over the past few years.
The
aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and
10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals,
along with citizens of 10 other countries. A320s normally seat 150 people.
At
Cairo airport, a man sat on a brown leather couch crying with his hands
covering his face. "How long will Egypt live if human lives are so
cheap?" he said.
The
mother of a flight attendant rushed out of the VIP hall where families waited
in tears. She said the last time her daughter called her was Wednesday night.
"They haven't told us anything," she said.
With
its archaeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a traditional
destination for Western tourists. But the industry has been badly hit by the
downing of a Russian Metrojet flight last October, in which all 224 people on
board were killed, as well as by an Islamist insurgency and a string of bomb
attacks.
Other countries offered to help in the investigation, including the United States, where engine maker Pratt & Whitney is based.
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