Basem Al Nadi, an expert on Middle East politics talks to Eurasia Diary about the details of EgyptAir plane missing in the Mediterranean on May 19.
Egypt is no stranger to aviation disasters. It has not passed a lot since Russian airline Kogalymavia’s A321 plane, en-route from Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, crashed jus after its takeoff that now the international community worries about Flight MS804 en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers.
Grief is camped over the people of Egypt upon this news. Lots of controversial statements are made about crash of the plane. Greek controllers tried and failed to contact the pilots as they passed control and communications to their Egyptian counterparts. Attempts to contact on emergency channels also failed, and neither Cairo nor Athens heard a distress signal. The Greek authorities began a search operation, deploying a C-130 military transport plane.
The pilot’s last contact with air traffic controllers was around 0005 GMT Thursday when he mentioned no problem, and the plane had not deviated from its course, Greek civil aviation authorities said. He was even “in a good mood, and thanked [the controllers] in Greek,” said civil aviation chief Constantin Litzerakos.
There are several scenarios presented by experts based on that erratic flight path:
"It's a modern plane, the incident happened in mid-flight in extremely stable conditions. The quality of the maintenance and the quality of the plane are not in question in this incident," Jean-Paul Troadec, former director of France's aviation Bureau of Investigation and Analysis, told The Mirror. Egyptair "is a company with authorisation to operate in Europe, so it is not on any blacklist," he added.
Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail was reluctant to speculate over the cause of the disappearance. "We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything," he told reporters.
Egyptian Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy suggested terrorism was more likely than technical failure. "If you analyze this situation properly, the possibility of having a different action aboard, of having a terror attack, is higher than having a technical problem," he said in Cairo. He said the possibility of a terrorist attack bringing down the aircraft was "stronger" than technical failure.
Note that, EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 56 passengers and 10 crew onboard left Paris Charles de Gaulle airport for Cairo on Wednesday evening and the plane lost contact with radar three and a half hours later, 10 miles after entering Egyptian air space.
Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos relayed the Egyptian discovery of the body part, seats and suitcases, citing Egyptian officials. Later, the airline issued a statement saying more remains, personal belongings and aircraft seats had been discovered.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt ordered the armed forces to “take all measures necessary” to find the remains of the plane, his office said in a statement.
Basem Al Nadi – Bureau Chief Egypt
Basem Al Nadi is a seasoned journalist, having a vast experience on writing various issues. He has grip on national and international affairs and expert on Middle East politics.
