The search for Egypt Air Flight 804 entered a second day after the jetliner vanished over the Mediterranean with 66 people aboard. It disappeared from radar early Thursday as it flew to Cairo — what should have been about a 3½-hour flight.
According to developed theories, the plane is believed to have “exploded” after it was taken down by a bomb with others speculating that the Egypt Air crashed into the sea.
Earlier, the airline’s vice chairman said the wreckage of Egypt Air MS804 had been seen on the sea but those reports turned out to be false
“We stand corrected on finding the wreckage because what we identified is not a part of our plane,” Ahmed Adel said.
The Airbus A320 “swerved and then plunged” before descending into the Mediterranean, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said.
Egyptian officials pointed to technical failures and terror as possible explanations.”But if you analyze this situation properly, the possibility of having a different action aboard, of having a terror attack, is higher than having a technical problem,” said Sharif Fathi, the nation’s aviation minister.
French officials urged caution, saying it’s still too early to draw conclusions.”All assumptions are reviewed but none is favored,” Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 2 network Friday. “We have absolutely no indication on the causes of this event.”
He said his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry was not leaning toward terrorism as the cause of the crash.
“He said he wanted all possibilities to be examined,” Ayrault told France 2.Ayrault defended security measures at the Paris airport, saying they have been intensified since the November terror attacks.
Where the plane is now remains a mystery with various countries like US and France coming to aid Egypt in the search of the lost plane.
In Cairo, Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said France would be responsible for any security lapse if terrorism was found to be the cause of the crash.
“If it is proven that this was an act of sabotage, then we have to know and recognize that this plane originated from France and not from Egypt,” he said.