Egyptian officials say missing plane crashed into sea

The Airbus A320 aircraft flying from Paris to Cairo went missing on Thursday, May 19, 2016, disappearing from radar over the Mediterranean Sea, EgyptAir said earlier.

EgyptAir (This picture is for illustrative purposes).
(MSN)

An EgyptAir plane missing with 66 people on board probably crashed into the sea, officials from the airline and the Egyptian civil aviation said on Thursday, May 19, 2016.

The Airbus A320 aircraft flying from Paris to Cairo went missing on Thursday, May 19, 2016, disappearing from radar over the Mediterranean Sea, EgyptAir said earlier.

Egypt's state newspaper Ahram reported that there had been no distress call from the plane and that the last contact with the pilot was about 10 minutes before the aircraft disappeared.

The airline also confirmed that "there are 56 passengers in addition to 10 cabin crew members onboard the aircraft."

the passengers' nationalities are as follows:
- 15 French
- 30 Egyptian
- 1 British
- 1 Belgium
- 2 Iraqis
- 1 Kuwaiti
- 1 Saudi

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 19, 2016

- 1 Sudanese
- 1 Chadian
- 1 Portuguese
- 1 Algerian
- 1 Canadian

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 19, 2016

CNN said the plane was carrying 59 passengers and 10 crew. A later Tweet by EgyptAir said the plane, which was travelling at an altitude of 37,000 feet (11,280 metres), disappeared about 80 miles (130 km) before it was due to enter Egyptian airspace.

According to flightradar24.com, the plane was an Airbus A320 and its last known position was above the Mediterranean Sea.

There were reports earlier, that the 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.