EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo disappears from radar, airline says

CAIRO (KABC) -- An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar, the airline disclosed late Thursday evening.

Flight MS804 left Paris at 11:09 p.m. CEST, or 2:09 p.m. PT. The plane was supposed to have landed by around 7 p.m. PT.

The A320 plane was scheduled to depart Paris at 10:45 p.m. Paris time, but actually left at 11:09 p.m. according to the airline. The plane lost contact with radar at 2:45 a.m. Cairo time at an altitude of 37,000 feet, while it was over the Mediterranean but had crossed about 10 miles into Egyptian airspace, the airline said.

EgyptAir said it contacted authorities and activated search-and-rescue teams.

The airline said there were 56 passengers in addition to 10 cabin crew members on board the aircraft. EgyptAir said among the passengers were 53 adults, two infants and one child.

EgyptAir said the said the passengers' nationalities were as followed: 30 Egyptian, 15 French, two Iraqis, and one British, Belgium, Kuwaiti, Saudi, Sudanese, Chadian, Algerian, and Canadian.

The 10 crew members included two in the cockpit, five cabin crew and three security personnel.

Admed Abdel, the vice chairman of EgyptAir, told CNN in a live interview there were no notifications by the captain of any problems and no unusual cargo on board the flight.

The airline later confirmed the flight lost contact with radar above the Mediterranean Sea.

An official said the search and rescue team received a distress signal from the plane's emergency devices, the airline tweeted.

EgyptAir provided two phone numbers for passenger' relatives. Anyone on a landline in Egypt can dial 0800 7777 0000. Anyone outside Egypt or on a mobile phone can dial +202 2598 9320.

The same airline was subject to a hijacking in March. A flight from Alexandria, Egypt to Cairo was hijacked by an Egyptian man who claimed to be wearing a suicide explosive belt. He forced the plane to be diverted to Cyprus and was eventually taken into custody on the ground with no injuries. The belt turned out to be fake.

In 1999, an EgyptAir flight from New York City to Cairo crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Massachusetts coast. Some investigators suspected an officer on the flight of intentionally crashing the plane, though Egyptian authorities disputed that claim.