EgyptAir Flight Vanishes With 66 on Board

EgyptAir Flight 804 vanished off radar on its way from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard, an airline official said Thursday. The plane was flying at 37,000 feet when it disappeared with 56 passengers and 10 crew members, the airline tweeted. Dozens of somber family members gathered at the Cairo international airport, seeking word on their loved ones. Buses ferried them to a special hall, where doctors and translators awaited. The Egyptian navy is conducting search and rescue operations with help from Greek authorities. What we know so far: Passengers on board the Airbus A320 included three children, said Capt. Ahmed Adel, a vice chairman at EgyptAir. Earlier, the airline said 69 people were on board. It was unclear why there were conflicting numbers. The flight left Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11:09 p.m. local time and was supposed to land in Cairo at 3:15 a.m. Thursday. Both the departure and arrival cities are in the same time zone. The location of last contact was 173 miles (280 kilometers) from the Egyptian coast, the airline tweeted. That contradicted earlier information provided by the airline. The Egyptian navy is conducting search and rescue operations in the area it vanished. There was no special cargo on the flight and no notification of any dangerous goods aboard, Adel said. There was no confirmation of a distress call either, he said. The plane entered EgyptAirs service on November 3, 2003, he added. Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has arrived at the command center at Cairo airport. The airline also provided phone numbers to the relatives of family members seeking information. The planes captain had 6,000 flying hours while the first officer had 4,000, Adel said. Routine maintenance checks on the plane were done Wednesday in Cairo, before it left for Paris, an airline official said. Nationalities of crew and passengers Those on board came from various nations including France, Egypt, Britain, Belgium, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Chad, Portugal, Algeria and Canada.

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EgyptAir Flight Vanishes With 66 on Board