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 19, 2016, 7:30 pm
#121
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But you are right, and they do want to sell newpapers, TV ads, though in reality, I think there will be 9-11 residue for a LONG time to come ....
But let's stick to topic, which sadly is that there is NO news about missing plane other than what we knew almost 24 hours ago.
May 19, 2016, 7:43 pm
#122
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Official media release:
I have modified wiki accordingly...
I regretfully confirm that one of the passengers on Egypt Air flight, MS 804, en route from Paris to Cairo was an Australian-UK dual national.
We are working closely with UK authorities, which are taking the lead in the provision of consular assistance to the man’s family.
The government is working with our partners and allies to understand the reasons behind the flight’s disappearance and presumed crash. It is too early to speculate on the cause of this incident.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected.
Out of respect for the man's family, the government will not provide more details at this stage.
We are working closely with UK authorities, which are taking the lead in the provision of consular assistance to the man’s family.
The government is working with our partners and allies to understand the reasons behind the flight’s disappearance and presumed crash. It is too early to speculate on the cause of this incident.
My thoughts are with the families and friends of those affected.
Out of respect for the man's family, the government will not provide more details at this stage.
May 19, 2016, 10:41 pm
#123
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I think the key is having it hardwired so that in flight it could not be turned off which would still enable it to be turned off while on the ground
May 19, 2016, 11:54 pm
#124
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I was expecting to wake up this morning to news of the recovery operation. But they still do not know where the aircraft is and its in a small well observed sea. It just shows the challenge of finding MH370.
May 20, 2016, 2:10 am
#125
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May 20, 2016, 2:16 am
#126
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Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said that before it had disappeared from radar, the plane made two abrupt turns and suddenly lost altitude.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36330879
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36330879
May 20, 2016, 3:08 am
#127
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CNN is announcing that debris and personal belongings have been found 180 miles north of Alexandria. This is from the Egyptian military. Greek authorities are reportedly being more cautious....
May 20, 2016, 3:31 am
#129
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EgyptAir has said the same on Twitter but only in Arabic so far. They usually post the same message in English a little later.
EGYPTAIR
@EGYPTAIR
عثرت القوات المسلحة المصرية في الساعات الأولي من صباح اليوم علي بعد 295 كيلو من سواحل الأسكندرية علي بقايا حطام ومتعلقات الرحلة ٨٠٤
But then both EgyptAir and CNN (who quoted the former) were wrong earlier. We'll have to wait and see.
EGYPTAIR
@EGYPTAIR
عثرت القوات المسلحة المصرية في الساعات الأولي من صباح اليوم علي بعد 295 كيلو من سواحل الأسكندرية علي بقايا حطام ومتعلقات الرحلة ٨٠٤
But then both EgyptAir and CNN (who quoted the former) were wrong earlier. We'll have to wait and see.
May 20, 2016, 3:35 am
#130
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BBC reports the following at 09:09 UTC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-36328976
The Egyptian Air Force says it has found wreckage from the missing EgyptAir plane.
A military spokesman said in a statement that wreckage and personal belongings of passengers were found 290km off the Egyptian coast, north of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
The spokesman said the Navy was sweeping the area for the aircraft's black box.
A military spokesman said in a statement that wreckage and personal belongings of passengers were found 290km off the Egyptian coast, north of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.
The spokesman said the Navy was sweeping the area for the aircraft's black box.
May 20, 2016, 4:47 am
#131
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Greek authorities had as of last night or very early this morning already cut back on their allocation of resources -- in the water and in the air -- to look for the ship.
May 20, 2016, 5:14 am
#132
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May 20, 2016, 7:55 am
#133
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French, Turkish and British aircraft and or ships are searching or being sent so I don't think the search is being scaled down.
May 20, 2016, 10:39 am
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See also post #126.
Many newer aircraft have an automatic emergency descent mode (EDM) where a sudden decompression event will trigger the autopilot to immediately commence a rapid descent to a much lower altitude and turn the airplane off the airway at 90 degrees.
Based on the reports I saw, I would be very surprised if the initial drop in altitude and 90 degree turn were not commanded by the automatic EDM.
Based on the reports I saw, I would be very surprised if the initial drop in altitude and 90 degree turn were not commanded by the automatic EDM.