May 19, 2016, 12:11 am
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
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An EgyptAir Airbus A320, registration SU-GCC from Paris Charles de Gaulle (flight MS804 departing 18 May) to Cairo with 56 passengers, 2 flight crew, 5 cabin crew and 3 security personnel, lost contact over the Mediterranan Sea about 280km (151nm) from the Coast of Egypt at 02:30 local time (00:30 UTC) on 19 May 2016. Greece's Civil Aviation Authority reported radar contact with the aircraft was lost about 2 minutes after the aircraft was handed off from Greek to Egyptian Air Traffic Control.
At 12:30 CEST (10:30 UTC) 19 May 2016 France's President Hollande announced that the aircraft has crashed while flying over the Mediterranean Sea in Egyptian Airspace.
At 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC) 19 May 2016 EgyptAir posted on their Facebook page that wreckage of the missing aircraft was found near Karpathos Island. This was later denied by the head of the Greek air safety authority. EgyptAir's VP subsequently retracted the statement that debris of the aircraft had been found and said they were mistaken.
On the morning of 20 May 2016 The Egyptian Armed Forces informed EgyptAir that they have found first debris from the missing aircraft operating flight MS804 around 295 KM from the Egyptian coastline.
On 20 May 2016 The Aviation Herald published ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) messages which suggested there was smoke in a lavatory followed by smoke in the avionics bay.
On 22 May 2016 Egypt's President confirmed that the Petroleum Ministry has provided a submarine that could reach 3,000 meters under water in an attempt to retrieve the two black boxes.
On 23 May 2016 the French BEA and Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority, in response to media reports of an emergency call on Egypt's frequency, stated that no such communication has been received on any frequency.
On 1st Jun 2016 Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority reported that the French vessel "Laplace" has located pings presumed to originate from one of two black boxes. The French BEA confirmed that Egyptian Authorities have confirmed a "signal that may come from one of the recorders" of flight MS-804.
On 16 Jun 2016 the vessel "John Lethbridge" managed to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder in several stages as the CVR had been damaged.
On 17 June 2016 the vessel "John Lethbridge" managed to recover the memory module of the second black box, the flight data recorder.
List of nationalities of passengers on Board:
30 Egyptian
15 French
2 Iraqi
1 British (dual nationality with Australia as confirmed by AU government)
1 Belgian
1 Kuwaiti
1 Saudi
1 Sudanese
1 Chadian
1 Portuguese
1 Algerian
1 Canadian
+ 10 crew of unknown nationality.
Useful, reliable links:
Aviation Herald (Avherald) article on MS804
BBC article on MS804
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EgyptAir MS 804 on 5/19/16, Paris to Cairo, Missing
May 18, 2016, 9:57 pm
#16
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No confirmed sighting of wreckage, SAR has barely gotten underway and already an "expert" knows what happened.
You called it! ^
May 18, 2016, 9:59 pm
#17
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I have just deleted a political post that has nothing to do with this potential tragedy. Please keep this thread for actual information and not for ridiculous statements about the US election.
Carol
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Carol
Community Director
May 18, 2016, 10:02 pm
#18
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The CNN "expert" doesn't claim to know, but is basing the tentative conclusion on a lack of communication from the flight for over an hour, including no transmissions about any mechanical problems during level flight at normal cruising altitiude.
May 18, 2016, 10:07 pm
#19
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I really wish these "experts" would wait until there is more conclusive evidence vs making statements and jumping to a (potential) conclusion while there's still a vacuum of conclusive evidence.
May 18, 2016, 10:10 pm
#20
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May 18, 2016, 10:12 pm
#21
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May 18, 2016, 10:19 pm
#23
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According to an EgyptAir official on CNN:
Very experienced crew (6,200 hours and 4,000 hours for the pilot and copilot respectively), aircraft was first put into service in 2002. There were no issues when the flight left Paris. No special cargo on board. No weather problems, especially in the area where the flight disappeared, although forecasted bad weather in a couple days could hamper search and rescue/recovery efforts.
People waiting for passengers at the airport have been taken elsewhere (I didn't catch the details but it sounds like some EgyptAir facilities at/near the airport) and are being cared for.
ADDED: Now they're saying (from flightaware?) that the flight was scheduled for a 787 (I think they mean 737) but the A320 was swapped in at the last minute. The ten (?) crew were (only) two in the cockpit, five (?) FAs, and three security officers. The latest passenger count is 56.
It's claimed that EgyptAir generally puts security officers on board, where three is more than normal, but this could be random in the absence of any specific threats. Three is considered a large number by an "expert" for a routine flight. The typical case is said to consist of a team of two.
Very experienced crew (6,200 hours and 4,000 hours for the pilot and copilot respectively), aircraft was first put into service in 2002. There were no issues when the flight left Paris. No special cargo on board. No weather problems, especially in the area where the flight disappeared, although forecasted bad weather in a couple days could hamper search and rescue/recovery efforts.
People waiting for passengers at the airport have been taken elsewhere (I didn't catch the details but it sounds like some EgyptAir facilities at/near the airport) and are being cared for.
ADDED: Now they're saying (from flightaware?) that the flight was scheduled for a 787 (I think they mean 737) but the A320 was swapped in at the last minute. The ten (?) crew were (only) two in the cockpit, five (?) FAs, and three security officers. The latest passenger count is 56.
It's claimed that EgyptAir generally puts security officers on board, where three is more than normal, but this could be random in the absence of any specific threats. Three is considered a large number by an "expert" for a routine flight. The typical case is said to consist of a team of two.
Last edited by MSPeconomist; May 18, 2016 at 11:33 pm
May 18, 2016, 10:28 pm
#24
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avherald map & flight trajectory based on Mode-S transponder signals
Gotta love Simon and all of his contacts for getting the various types of information so quickly.
http://avherald.com/h?article=4987fb09&opt=0
http://avherald.com/h?article=4987fb09&opt=0
May 18, 2016, 10:32 pm
#25
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May 18, 2016, 10:33 pm
#26
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EgyptAir in from Athens and EgyptAir out to LHR. I think I'm less concerned about once in the country - I expect some harassment in general but not expecting anything violent. Probably more concerned about ground safety during the Istanbul portion of my trip.
May 18, 2016, 10:39 pm
#28
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Very unfortunate, my thoughts are with the passenger and crew member's families.
Just a note of clarification, there seemed to be some confusion among sources on the aircraft, it is indeed an Airbus A320, SU-GCC delivered to EgyptAir in 2003.
Just a note of clarification, there seemed to be some confusion among sources on the aircraft, it is indeed an Airbus A320, SU-GCC delivered to EgyptAir in 2003.
May 18, 2016, 11:11 pm
#30
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Geoffrey Thomas, editor in chief of AirlineRatings.com, says the flight's route was "quite benign, doesn't fly over any conflict zones."
"Nothing unusual about this flight, just unusual that it disappeared, which obviously is very worrying."
He added: "There’s a lot of conflicting information, this aircraft was some time from touchdown, hadn’t started its descent. There’s nothing very unusual other than it suddenly disappeared. It’s too early to speculate but it’s extremely unusual. It doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue either."
"Nothing unusual about this flight, just unusual that it disappeared, which obviously is very worrying."
He added: "There’s a lot of conflicting information, this aircraft was some time from touchdown, hadn’t started its descent. There’s nothing very unusual other than it suddenly disappeared. It’s too early to speculate but it’s extremely unusual. It doesn’t appear to be a mechanical issue either."