EgyptAir Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo 'disappears from radar'

• 7 minutes ago
 
• From the sectionAfrica

Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe missing plane is believed to be an Airbus 320

An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has disappeared from radar, the Egyptian airline says.

It says there are 56 passengers, seven crew members and three security personnelon board Flight MS804.

The Airbus A320 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).

EgyptAir says search and rescue teams have been deployed.

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EgyptAir says the plane disappeared about 10 miles (16km) into Egyptian air space and the relevant authorities have been notified.

The search operation is being co-ordinated with the Greek authorities.

In a later update, EgyptAir said that three children were among those on board the plane.

Aviation analyst Alex Macheras told the BBC that Airbus A320s were regularly used for short-haul budget flights and had "an amazing safety record".

The EgyptAir aircraft left Paris at 23:09 local time on Wednesday (21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:00 local time on Thursday.

In March, an EgyptAir plane was hijacked and diverted to Cyprus. The attacker later surrendered and all hostages were released.

Last October, a Russian passenger plane flying from Sharm el-Sheikh crashed over the Sinai peninsula killing all 224 people on board. Officials in Moscow later said the aircraft was brought down by an explosive device.

Islamic State militants said they had bombed the plane.