Bomb suspected in downing of Egyptian airliner in Mediterranean
Officials say an aircraft malfunction at cruising altitude is unlikely.
Hot Topic
DEALMAKERS
Egypt is again at the centre of an aviation terrorist attack.
Early reports said wreckage of EgyptAir Flight MS804 carrying 66 passengers and crew had been found in the Mediterranean Sea just inside Egyptian air space. But these reports have since been denied.
The A320 airliner took off from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport bound for Cairo.
At cruising altitude, it suddenly veered 90 degrees to the left and then swung around a full 360 degrees in a spiral before crashing into the sea.
US and Egyptian officials say the dive was most probably caused by an explosive placed on board.
An explosive device smuggled on board a Russian airliner in a Sinai resort killed all 224 on board a Metrojet A321 in October last year. An Islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility.
In 1999, an EgyptAir pilot crashed a Boeing 767 carrying top Egyptian military personnel in what US officials called a political act.
Egypt has denied this explanation and blamed a rocket fired from Long Island.
In the two days before its disappearance, the Flight MS804 aircraft had flown from Cairo to Brussels, Tunis and the Eritrean capital of Asmara before heading to Paris.
The French capital has been on high alert for Islamic terrorist activity since the killing of 130 people in attacks on November 13.
Flight MS804 was carrying 56 passengers, three security personnel and seven crew. The passengers included 30 Egyptians, 15 French and nationals from the UK, Belgium, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.
Wreckage was spotted near the Greek island of Karpathos but Egyptian authorities have since said this was not from the downed airliner.
Follow NBR on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram for the latest news and free on-demand audio from NBR Radio.
Nevil Gibson
Fri, 20 May 2016
Fri, 20 May 2016
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Bomb suspected in downing of Egyptian airliner in Mediterranean
58331