France expresses solidarity with Egypt over missing EgyptAir flight

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault held a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry to discuss the latest developments concerning the EgyptAir flight that went missing on Thursday morning.

In statements on Thursday, French Foreign Ministry Spokesman Romain Nadal said the French minister asserted France's solidarity with Egypt in this incident.

The ministers stressed the importance of coordinating to help the missing passengers' families and to find out the circumstances behind the incident.

They agreed on keeping in touch during the coming few hours.

Earlier, Ayrault announced after an emergency meeting at the Elysée Palace that his country is ready to put its military capabilities, including planes and ships, under the Egyptian command to help in searching for the missing plane.

The national flag carrier has earlier said that Flight MS804 with 66 persons on board vanished from radar 10 miles after entering the Egyptian air field.

Some 56 passengers along with 10 crew members were on board the Airbus A320.

Radar lost contact with the flight at 2:45 Cairo local time while it was at an altitude of 37,000 feet.

The flight took off from Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday 23:09 Paris local time then it disappeared from radar after entering the Egyptian airspace.

EgyptAir said that the captain had recorded more than 6,000 flying hours, including 2,000 hours in that model.

The Armed Forces sent a number of planes and naval units to search for the plane that disappeared from radar earlier Thursday.

Greece sent a plane in coordination with Egypt to contribute to search and rescue efforts.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail declared a state of emergency in all bodies concerned with following up the developments of missing EgyptAir plane.

Ismail and Civil Aviation Minister Sherif Fathi have arrived at Cairo Airport on news of the missing plane.

So far, there are no confirmed reports on reasons behind the disappearance of the plane.

Source: MENA