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EGYPTAIR - PART 2

 

"People await the fate of their loved ones at Cairo Airport to get breaking news of Air crash." 

By now, short after the crash of Flight MS804, debris have finally been found by Egyptian forces. Here’s what we know so far: items of luggage, a body part and aircraft parts, including two seats, have been found around 180 miles north of Alexandria, according to General Mohammed Samir and the Greek Defense Minister, Panos Kammenos. Samir said “there is no doubt” this debris belongs to the flight, while Kammenos cautioned that they still have to officially confirm that the material spotted in the area belongs to Flight MS804.

What happened was that the airplane suddenly and violently swerved twice, with a 90-degree turn to the left, a plunge from 37,000 feet to 10,000 feet, and a 360-spin. The plane vanished from radar at 2.29.40 am local time, according to Greek air traffic controllers, only 40 seconds after leaving Greek airspace and entering Egyptian airspace.   

Two minutes earlier, Greek controllers failed to contact the plane, as they passed control and communications to Egyptian counterparts.  

Until that moment, the plane was normally flying, with pilot Mohamed Saeed Shaqeer, aged 36, and Mohamed Ahmed Mamdouh, co-pilot, aged 24, in good cheer at 1.48 Cairo time. The pilot said to the controller  ”there was no problem”, speaking in Greek.

Committee formed in Egypt

A Committee has been formed in Egypt to investigate possible terror motive, even if no claims of responsibility came yet.

A European satellite has spotted a potential oil slick in the area of the Mediterranean Sea where flight MS804 disappeared, according to European Space Agency (ESA), which has given info related to the acquired image to the relevant authorities to support the search operations.

Late On Thursday, American officials said that the satellite imagery has shown no signs of explosions, though they also cautioned that the investigations are at its early stage. 

Victims

Prayer have been made and tears have been shed at impromptu service in mosque near airport to remember victims. On board were also three Egyptian armed agents. 

Conclusions

It will take weeks of investigations of black boxes to clearly understand how the airplane went destroyed.

According to the expert Xavier Tytelman, “if they really succeeded in putting a bomb on the plane, a deep analysis about world airports’ security will be necessary, since Roissy and Orly are now at the forefront, surpassed only by Israeli airports only”

 

 

 Article Authored by Sonia Russo