A search is under way for an EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo which has disappeared with 56 passengers and 10 crew on board - including one British national.
The fate of the plane is not yet known and officials have said it is too early to rule out any possibility, including terrorism.
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French President Francois Hollande said "unfortunately the information we have ... confirms to us the plane came down and is lost", suggesting it may have crashed near the southern Greek island of Karpathos where the search is focused.
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© Christian Hartmann/Reuters
On May 19, 2016, EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar. The aircraft was cruising at an altitude of 37,000 ft (11,277 m) when it went missing. There are reportedly 59 passengers and 10 crew members on board. According to the airline, contact with the flight was lost around 16 km/10 miles into the Egyptian airspace. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said that the Egyptian navy and air force are conducting search operations in the area, in coordination with the Greek authorities.
The flight took off from the Charles de Gaulle airport late on May 18, and was scheduled to arrive at Cairo International Airport early on May 19. (Pictured) An empty EgyptAir counter at terminal 1 of Charles de Gaulle airport.
Thirty Egyptians, 15 French, two Iraqis, a Belgian, Kuwaiti, Saudi, Sudanese, Chadian, Algerian, Portuguese and Canadian are among the passengers which also include one child and two babies.
Greece has joined special teams from the Egyptian armed forces in the search for the jet and deployed one C-130, an early warning aircraft, a frigate and helicopters.
France has also sent boats and planes - including a Falcon surveillance jet which had been monitoring the Mediterranean for migrants.
All vessels near Karpathos have been alerted to help. Bulk carrier Oceanus reported seeing no debris or fuel.
Greek civil aviation authorities said the jet disappeared off its radar two minutes after leaving its airspace. Prior to that, its air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot who reported no problems.
Ahmed Abdel, the vice-chairman of EgyptAir holding company, told CNN there had been no distress calls from the plane.
The New York Times quoted Ehab Mohy el-Deen, the head of Egypt's air navigation authority, as saying: "They did not radio for help or lose altitude. They just vanished."
The airline said the plane's pilot had flown 6,275 hours - including 2,101 hours on the same model - while the co-pilot had done 2,766 hours.
Commercial airline pilot Chris McGee told Sky News there were only two circumstances that would prevent a pilot from contacting air traffic control: "One would be if there was human intervention. The second is something has occurred on the flight deck.
"The first thing you are taught is fly the airplane first, handle the problem, and then communicate. So if you have got your hands full that is potentially why you wouldn't talk to air traffic."
A crisis centre offering support to the distressed families with loved ones on board has been set up at Cairo International Airport.
Sky's Sherine Tadros, at the airport, said: "People here are in tears and are losing hope as the hours go by."
The Foreign Office said: "We are in contact with the family of a British national believed to have been on board."
France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls saiid "no theory can be ruled out on the cause of this disappearance", as Paris prosecutors launched an investigation into the disappearance of the jet.
Airbus, which delivered the plane to EgyptAir in 2003 said "our concerns go out to all those affected".
The flight tracking history of the jet showed it had also flown to Tunisia, Eritrea and Brussels in the last few days.
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