WRECKAGE OF CRASHED EGYPTAIR FOUND – ARMY

Egypt’s army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir, said in a statement he posted on his Facebook page today that Egyptian jets and naval vessels participating in the search for the missing plane have found the wreckage.

He said the army found “personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris,” 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of the city of Alexandria.

The flight took off from Paris at 11:09 pm on Wednesday and was scheduled to land at the Cairo International Airport at 3:15 but disappeared from radar at 2:45 am.

The plane which was cruising at 37,000 feet vanished just hours before it was due to land.

The airline said nationalities on board the plane are 15 French, 30 Egyptian, 1 British, 1 Belgium, 2 Iraqis, 1 Kuwaiti, 1 Saudi, 1 Sudanese, 1 Chadian, 1 Portuguese, 1 Algerian and 1 Canadian.

“An EGYPTAIR official declared that EGYPTAIR A320 aircraft in its flight number MS804 lost contact with radar above the Mediterranean Sea about 280 KM from the Egyptian seacoast at 02:30 am CLT as the flight was expected to arrive Cairo Airport at 03:15 am CLT”, the airline said online.

Officials of the airline noted that the cause is still unknown but that the pilot had more than 6,000 hours of flight experience while the co-pilot had nearly 3,000 flying hours. There was no adverse weather at the time the jet disappeared.