EgyptAir Flight MS804 crash: massive search for wreckage - live

Summary

Debris and passengers' personal belongings found 295km (185 miles) north of Alexandria
Items found by search teams include a body part, luggage and seats
Egyptian authorities have said terror is the most likely cause, but there is no evidence yet to back up claim
No group has claimed responsibility for the crash, says the BBC's jihadist monitoring team
Radar suggests plane made two sharp turns, plunged 27,000 ft, then span 360 degrees
Search for wreckage and black boxes continues, led by Egypt with assistance from France, UK, US
66 people on board included 30 Egyptians, 15 French people, two Canadians and people of 10 other nationalities including one Briton
All times in BST (GMT+1)

Live Reporting

Nalina Eggert, Joel Gunter and Alex Therrien

A320 aircraft had 'amazing safety record'published at 05:55
Aviation analyst Alex Macheras told the BBC the Airbus A320 was regularly used for short-haul budget flights and had a good safety record.
Quote Message
What we do know is this aircraft left Paris last night for a routine flight from Paris to Cairo. It was an Airbus A320, a very modern aircraft. This is an aircraft that most short-haul carriers, the likes of Easyjet will use. The A320 is incredibly safe, it has an amazing safety record."
Alex Macheras, Aviation analyst
Three children on board missing flightpublished at 05:45
Breaking
Egyptair has now confirmed the flight was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew.
The pilot had 6,000 flight hours.
Earlier, the airline said 69 people were on board.
Technical information 'being gathered'published at 05:44
Egypt's civil aviation ministry said search and rescue teams were looking for the missing jet.
A ministry source also said technical information about the condition of the plane was being gathered, Reuters news agency reports.
1999 crashpublished at 05:40
In 1999 an EgyptAir flight crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, killing all 217 people on board.
US investigators found the co-pilot had switched off the autopilot and pointed the Boeing B767-366ER downward. However, Egyptian officials did not accept it was a suicide, saying instead it was a mechanical issue.
EgyptAir's fleetpublished at 05:37
- Total fleet of 63 aircraft
- 11 Airbus A320s
'No distress call' from planepublished at 05:34
Ahmed Abdul, the vice-chairman of EgyptAir holding company, told CNN there were “no recorded snags coming out of Cairo” and nothing reported before the plane left Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
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Previous EgyptAir incidentpublished at 05:20
In March, an EgyptAir plane was hijacked on its way to Cairo and forced to divert to Cyprus. The hijacker later surrendered to police and the passengers were safely evacuated.
Image source, Reuters
Plane missing for more than three hourspublished at 05:15
The plane left Paris Charles de Gaulle airport at 23.09 local time Wednesday (22:09 BST/07:09 Thursday AEST).
It lost contact at 02:45am Cairo time (01.45 BST/10.45 AEST).
The plane was about three hours and 40 minutes into its journey and has now been missing for more than three hours.
Flight path of the missing planepublished at 05:09
According to the flightradar24.com website, which tracks passenger flights around the globe, the plane is an Airbus 320.
EgyptAir confirmed the plane disappeared about 10 miles (16km) into Egyptian air space.
Image source, Flightradar24
Image caption,
Flightradar 24's website shows the plane in Egyptian air space
EgyptAir tweets about the missing planepublished at 05:02
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Welcome to the BBC's live pagepublished at 05:02
We are bringing you the latest news on an EgyptAir flight which has disappeared from the radar during a flight from Paris to Cairo.
Here's what we know so far:
- Flight MS804 was flying at 37,000ft (11,300m) when it went missing over the eastern Mediterranean
- An official said the plane lost contact with radar at 02:45 Cairo time (00:45 GMT)
- There were 59 passengers on board and 10 crew members
- Egypt's Civil Aviation ministry says search and rescue teams are looking for the plane