EgyptAir Flight 804 departed Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 11:09 p.m. on Wednesday, bound for Cairo. The Airbus A320, carrying 66 passengers and crew, was due to arrive in the Egyptian capital only a few hours later, but last made contact with air traffic controllers about 3:29 a.m. as it entered Egyptian airspace.
Greek civil aviation authorities say that communications with the flight shortly before 3:29 a.m. indicated no apparent problems. Within the two minutes before contact was lost, radar data show the aircraft made a sudden 90-degree left turn while descending roughly 22,000 feet, followed by a 60-degree right turn and an additional drop of about 5,000 feet. After that sequence, all communications and radar contact ceased.
Search efforts intensified overnight. A Greek naval frigate located several large plastic objects floating in the sea south of Crete this morning; these items are being treated as potential debris from the aircraft. Recovery teams are working to retrieve and examine any wreckage as part of the investigation.
At this stage, investigators are considering multiple possible causes. Authorities have stated that terrorism is a working hypothesis, but they have not ruled out a catastrophic technical failure or other explanations. Aviation safety experts and accident investigators will analyze flight data recorders, wreckage, maintenance records, and any available communications to determine the sequence of events and identify the root cause.
Families of those on board have been notified and officials are coordinating consular and support services. International aviation agencies and Egyptian authorities are collaborating on the search and investigation, and further updates are expected as recovery teams secure evidence and specialists examine the findings.