Update : EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo crashes with 66 on board

EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board early Thursday, officials confirmed. 

The Airbus A320, carrying 56 passengers and 10 crew members, was cruising at 37,000 feet and had just entered Egyptian airspace when contact was lost.

Jean-Paul Troadec, former president of the French air accident investigation bureau, told Europe 1 radio this morning that the suddenness of the aircraft's disappearance suggested it was unlikely to have been a mechanical failure.

"We can consider certain hypotheses. ... There's a strong possibility of an explosion on board from a bomb or a suicide bomber," Troadec said.

"The idea of a technical accident when weather conditions were good, seems also possible but not that likely.  We could also consider a missile, which is what happened to the Malaysia Airlines aircraft in July 2014. If the crew didn't send an alert signal, it's because what happened was very sudden. A problem with an engine or a technical fault, would not produce an immediate accident.  In this case, the crew did not react, which makes us think of an explosion."

Naval air and sea searches have been launched, Egyptian authorities said.  Search and rescue teams from Greece are also combing the Mediterranean

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REUTERS An EgyptAir flight carrying 66 passengers and crew on a flight from Paris to Cairo went missing on Thursday, disappearing from radar over the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt's national airline said.

Officials with the airline and the Egyptian civil aviation department told Reuters they believed the Airbus A320 probably crashed into the sea.

Aboard the flight were 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, one Briton and one Belgian.

Families of passengers rushed to Cairo International Airport shortly after dawn while the Egyptian and Greek military scrambled aircraft and boats to search for the plane.

"An official source at EgyptAir stated that Flight MS804, which departed Paris at 23:09 (CEST), heading to Cairo has disappeared from radar," the airline said on its official Twitter account.

Later Tweets by EgyptAir said the plane, which was traveling at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 meters), disappeared in Egyptian air space at 02:30 a.m., some 280 kms (165 miles) from the Egyptian coastline, before it was due to land at 03:15 a.m.

"There was nothing unusual," EgyptAir vice chairman Ahmed Adel told Reuters. "The search and rescue aircraft from the Egyptian air force are at the position where we lost contact. They are still looking and so far there is nothing found."

NO DISTRESS CALL

Egyptian state newspaper Ahram reported no distress call was made and the last contact was 10 minutes before the plane disappeared.

The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. Earlier it said 59 passengers were aboard but then revised the figure.

The pilot had clocked up 6,275 hours of flying experience, including 2,101 hours on the A320, while the first officer had 2,766 hours, the airline said.

Greece said it had deployed aircraft and a frigate to the area to help with the search.

A Greek defense ministry source said authorities were also investigating an account from the captain of a merchant ship who reported a ‘flame in the sky’ some 130 nautical miles south of the island of Karpathos.

The weather was clear at the time the plane disappeared, according to weather reports.

Speed and altitude data from aviation website FlightRadar24.com indicated the plane was cruising at the time it disappeared.

TOURISM DISRUPTED

A spokesman at the French foreign ministry said it had no further information. The French aviation authority could not be reached immediately for comment.

Under U.N. aviation rules, Egypt will automatically lead an investigation into the accident assisted by countries including France, if it is confirmed that an Airbus jet was involved.