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Africa North
Egyptair passenger plane goes missing at 37,000 feet near Cairo
2016-05-19
An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar, the Egyptian airline says.

It says there are 59 passengers and 10 crew members on board Flight MS804.

The aircraft was flying at 37,000ft (11,300m) when it went missing over the eastern Mediterranean. An official said the plane lost contact with radar at 02:45 Cairo time (00:45 GMT).
AoS at 1030 ET: moved to 'Africa North' and WoT. Almost certainly a terrorist attack. Fred has a later post with more details. Use this or the later post for comments; mods will put up posts later today if more significant news comes in. Readers who find something on the web should put the link into a comment (use the 'link' button!) and we mods will follow up. Thank you.
See also later article and link to live updates here.
Posted by:Anguper Hupomosing9418

#13  

Identity Of Three People On Board EgyptAir Flight Raises Questions

The presence of three security officers on board the EgyptAir flight MS804, which crashed Thursday night, has a former National Transportation Safety Board investigator speculating what the reason may be.

French transport chief Alain Vidalies told reporters it is “the usual practice” having multiple security officers on a flight. MS804 only had 66 people total on board, including passengers and crew.

However, Greg Feith, a former investigator with the NTSB, told MSNBC, “The only other reason to have security personnel like we do here in the U.S. is if they were transporting some sort of prisoner or someone of interest,” adding, “But most likely this was similar to our federal air marshals flying on this flight.”
Posted by: Thor Lumumba3940   2016-05-19 19:36  

#12  rjschwartz, it is looking more and more like this is the right category. There seems to be video of a fireball in the sky at the time and vicinity of the downward spiral. I do still have this tidbit in my unconfirmed bracket; without a reference point and comparing the movement to the supposed spiral I can only take the word of the presenter, which is to say I don't, not automatically.

Also was the deal about losing contact quite soon after arriving in Egyptian airspace. That is a bit convenient and has me concerned about a couple different things.

Some wreckage has been found, but that does not help the why, at least not yet.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2016-05-19 18:28  

#11  the plane was in Tunisia, Brussels and East Africa earlier in the week
Posted by: lord garth   2016-05-19 15:15  

#10  My gut says mechanical.

Egypt air is unlikely to have great maintenance and they jumped at the idea of a terrorist attack once it came up because that would make it the fault of French security. Also I think most bombers blow up earlier rather than later.

My gut could be totally wrong, sometimes its full of crap. Has anyone taken credit yet?
Posted by: rjschwarz   2016-05-19 15:02  

#9  Have they said if the flight originated in Paris, or if it had another stop beforehand? Doesn't give me the warm and fuzzy feeling if a major international airport in a country that's had recent issues may have let something slip thru..
Posted by: IG-88   2016-05-19 12:07  

#8  And tonight WH spokesperson Josh Earnest will explain to us that this is a clear indicator thatISIS is weak and losing because they are striking out in desperation. a workplace incident occurred, possibly involving someone involved with the justice system. /em> FIFY
Posted by: AlanC   2016-05-19 11:52  

#7  It looks like there is a higher than usual number of "crew members" (10) on the flight?
Posted by: regular joe   2016-05-19 11:28  

#6  And tonight WH spokesperson Josh Earnest will explain to us that this is a clear indicator that ISIS is weak and losing because they are striking out in desperation...

Not a great deal of comfort for the 66 who perished or their families.
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-05-19 11:20  

#5  Yesterday French Intel reported that "France was the country most threatened by the Islamic State and that IS was currently planning new attacks." This morning Hollande is "keeping an open mind" on the fate of the Egyptair flight. And tonight WH spokesperson Josh Earnest will explain to us that this is a clear indicator that ISIS is weak and losing because they are striking out in desperation...
Posted by: Tennessee   2016-05-19 09:58  

#4  Struggle, then a suicide vest at 22,000 feet?
Posted by: Bobby   2016-05-19 07:42  

#3  The Mail: EgyptAir jet went into a 'sharp spin' and fell 22,000ft before vanishing from radar says Greek defence minister, as air safety chief says crash was 'almost certainly a terror attack'
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-05-19 07:33  

#2  Yes, my guess as well. Off radar at 37k feet, no report of technical difficulty from cockpit. NSA unveils new collection effort. Delays at TSA. I wonder what we've not been told ?
Posted by: Besoeker   2016-05-19 06:34  

#1  good chance this will become a WoT story soon
Posted by: lord garth   2016-05-19 04:28  

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