The Egyptian military said it has found EgyptAir Flight MS804 debris 290 km north of the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria. Egyptian army spokesman Brg. Gen. Mohammed Samir said on his verified Facebook page Friday that his military's search planes and vessels had discovered parts of the Airbus A320 along with some passengers' belongings.The military is certain the debris comes from Flight MS804 Samir told NBC News by phone, adding that the wreckage will be brought back to Egypt for investigation.
The Egyptian military released the following video of the search and rescue operations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--fJzkHitRg
EgyptAir has expressed "deepest sorrow to the families and friends.
EGYPTAIR sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MS804. #MS804 #Egyptair
— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) May 20, 2016
Egypt's Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathy said terrorism was more likely to blame than a technical fault. French President Francois Hollande said at a press conference Thursday "As soon as we know the truth, we'll have to draw all conclusions, be it an accident or any other hypothesis."
Egypt is leading the investigation, with assistance from Greece and others. Salvage teams from Greece and Egypt have been joined by French investigators to find debris as authorities seek to piece together what happened to the Airbus A320 plane.
As reported yesterday, authorities aren’t ruling out any possible cause for the disappearance, including a deliberate act or malfunction, though Egyptian Minister of Aviation Sherif Fathy said the possibility of a terrorist attack is higher than a technical failure. The Airbus jet made sudden movements before swooping into a deep descent before air-traffic control lost contact, according to Greek radar reports. Pilots sent no emergency signal, and their final contact with controllers revealed no signs of distress.
Salvage crews will focus on retrieving the flight and data recorders, so-called black boxes that store key flight metrics and voices and sounds from the cockpit that can help investigators pinpoint the cause of a crash. Finding a plane after an incident, particularly over water, can often take days.
According to Bloomberg, several factors come into play when searching for wreckage in an ocean. Sea currents, weather and the speed at which the jet hits the water are some issues to be taken into consideration, said Ken Mathews, a former accident investigator who’s worked with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board as well as its U.K. and New Zealand peers. "If they narrow down the likely area, then it’s only a matter of time,” Mathews said. “The Mediterranean is not a vast area, or so deep as an ocean."