A P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft from Patrol Squadron from Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily conducted a search operation for Egyptair flight MS804 on Friday (May 20). The U.S. Navy is providing resources to support of the Hellenic Armed Forces, the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Greece, in response to a request by the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece for assistance in the search of the missing Egyptian aircraft.
Analysis of the debris is likely to be key to determining what happened to the flight.
An EgyptAir jet sent a series of signals indicating that smoke had been detected on board before it crashed into the Mediterranean on Thursday, France’s air accident investigation agency said on Saturday.
A spokesman for the BEA agency said the signals did not indicate what caused the smoke or fire on board the plane, which plunged into the sea with 66 people on board as it was heading from Paris to Cairo.
But they offered the first clues as to what unfolded in the moments before the crash. One aviation source said that a fire on board would likely have generated multiple warning signals, while a sudden explosion may not have generated any.
Egypt said its navy had found human remains, wreckage and the personal belongings of passengers floating in the Mediterranean about 290 km (180 miles) north of Alexandria. (REUTERS)
