EgyptAir Flight MS804, operating an Airbus A320, disappeared from radar at the dawn of May 19, the airline reported.
A total of 69 people were onboard the flight, with 59 being passengers and the remaining 10 being crew members.
Flight MS804 took off at 11:09 p.m. from the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and was heading to Cairo. The aircraft lost connection with radar at about 2:45 a.m. Cairo time, EgyptAir said. According to a spokeswoman for the airline, all communications with the aircraft has been lost, and search and rescue operations have been initiated.
The aircraft disappeared 10 miles into Egyptian airspace, and was at an altitude of 37,000 feet when it vanished from radar, according to a tweet by EgyptAir.
There were no signs that EgyptAir or any civil aviation authority received distressed calls or reports of mechanical trouble from Flight MS804. There were also no reports of difficult weather conditions.
CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayem said that the sudden disappearance of the aircraft implied an act of terrorism, as the height of the airplane upon its vanishing from radar with no distress calls is similar to signs from previous terrorist attacks.
While the threat of terrorism is a possible cause for Flight MS804's disappearance, what happened to the aircraft will not be sure until more details are revealed by EgyptAir and authorities from the ongoing search and rescue operation.
In March, a local EgyptAir flight also heading to Cairo from Alexandria was hijacked and forced to land in Larnaca, Cyprus, as one of the passengers told the pilot of the aircraft that he was wearing an explosive belt.
After negotiations with the assailant, due to him holding the flight's crew and four foreigners as hostage, he was later found to be unarmed.
