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EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo missing with 66 on board
CAIRO, May 19 (Reuters) - Egypt's civil aviation ministry said in a statement that it was too early to confirm if a passenger plane that went missing over the Mediterranean on Thursday had crashed.Some media had quoted the civil aviation ministry as confirming that it crashed into the sea.
Aviation officials, speaking off the record, have said that the plane most likely crashed. However, search teams have yet to find any wreckage to confirm this.
Confusion also reigned over whether the missing plane sent a distress signal that was picked up by the Egyptian military. EgyptAir said in a statement earlier that a signal had been received by the army more than an hour after the plane was due to land. The army denied in a statement receiving any message.
(Reporting by Lin Noueihed, Mostafa Hashem, and Asma AlSharif, Editing by Eric Knecht)
This is a developing news update. Reuters' earlier story follows...
CAIRO, May 19 (Reuters) - An EgyptAir flight carrying 66 passengers and crew on a flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared 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 had crashed into the sea.
Egypt Air said the plane sent an emergency signal - possibly from an emergency beacon attached to the plane - at 04:26 a.m., two hours after it disappeared from radar screens.
In water crashes, an underwater locator beacon attached to the aircraft's flight recorders starts to emit a signal or ping. This helps the search and rescue teams to locate the boxes, and the location of the crash.
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 nationals from 10 other countries.
"The theory that the plane crashed and fell is now confirmed after the preliminary search and after it did not arrive at any of the nearby airports," said a senior aviation source, who declined to be identified.
"All causes for the disaster are open, whether it is a major technical fault or a terrorist action or any other circumstance. This will be ascertained when we inspect the plane's wreckage and transcribe its black boxes."
![]({"default":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBtdWc6.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=592&y=930"} "EgyptAir flight MS804 - Christian Hartmann/Reuters")
![]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBtdS2Q.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}} "Paris to Cairo - Flightradar24/PA WIRE/Press Association")
![]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBte57K.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}} "Egyptair in-flight service building - Amr Nabil/AP Photo")
![Relatives of passengers comfort each other.]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBtelc7.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=270&y=858"}} "Mideast Egypt Plane - Amr Nabil/AP Photo")
![An Egyptian woman, who said her brother is among passengers, leaves the EgyptAir in-flight service building.]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBteaNH.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1404&y=373"}} "Mideast Egypt Plane - Amr Nabil/AP Photo")
![Egyptians gather outside the arrivals section of Cairo International Airport, Egypt, Thursday, May 19, 2016. An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, the airline said. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBtdTMT.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=1048&y=842"}} "EgyptAir - Amr Nabil/AP Photo")
![Reporters gather in front of the EgyptAir counter at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris on Thursday, May 19, 2016. An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 people disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, the airline said. (AP Phot]({"default":{"load":"wait","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBtdWu4.img?h=373&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f"}} "EgyptAir - Raphael Satter/AP Photo")
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