Egypt Air flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo Crashed

An Egypt Air flight from Paris to Cairo is feared to have crashed into the Mediterranean Sea after disappearing from radar overnight.

The Airbus A320 went missing at 02:30 Cairo time (00:30 GMT), soon after leaving Greek airspace.

There were 56 passengers - including three children - seven crew members and three security personnel on board Flight MS804, EgyptAir said.

Airbus confirmed "the loss" of the 13-year-old plane.

A major search and rescue operation is under way involving the Greek and Egyptian armed forces. Francehas offered to send boats and planes to help in the effort.

What we know

Both French and Egyptian officials have refused to be drawn on what has happened to the plane.

Although there is no evidence yet to indicate a malicious attack, the spectre of terrorism inevitably looms over this latest aviation tragedy, says the BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner.

It was only seven months ago that a Russian passenger jet was brought down over the Sinai by the so-called Islamic State, which has vowed to target Egypt and the westerners who visit it, he notes.

Flight MS804 left Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport at 23:09 local time on Wednesday (21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:15 local time on Thursday.

EgyptAir said the plane had been flying at 37,000ft (11,300m) when it disappeared from radar shortly after entering Egyptian airspace.

Greek aviation officials said its air traffic controllers had spoken to the pilot a few minutes earlier and everything had appeared normal.

One official told the AFP news agency that the plane crashed "around 130 nautical miles" off the southern Greek island of Karpathos, although this has not been confirmed.