EgyptAir flight MS804 crash: 'Debris found'

• An EgyptAir flight carrying 56 passengers and ten crew has disappeared
• Flight MS804 left Paris Charles de Gaulle for Cairo at 11.09pm Wednesday, and lost contact with radar at 00.45 GMT - ten miles after  entering Egyptian air space
• Egyptian aviation officials say the plane 'crashed' and that a search for debris is underway
• A terror attack is the most likely cause of the crash, according to aviation experts
• Greek airport sources say the crash site is off the Greek island of Karpathos
• Second major incident to hit airline this year after one of its planes was hijacked in March
• EgyptAir flight MS804 disappears: what we know so far

No terrorist claims of responsibility so far

Still no mention of the EgyptAir crash on Isil-affiliated Amqa Agency's Telegram. 

However, it was several hours before the group claimed last October's Metrojet crash. 

Isil now has an established media protocol for taking responsibility for attacks, which is much more regimented than people assume.

What we know as of 2pm

The missing EgyptAir flight MS804 was more likely brought down by a terrorist attack than a technical breakdown, Egypt’s aviation minister said today.

Sherif Fathy told The Telegraph: “If you analyse the situation properly, the possibility of having a terror attack is higher than the possibility of having a technical fault.” 

Mr Fathy said it was still not clear what happened to the aircraft and that it was impossible to draw conclusions before any wreckage or the aircraft’s blackbox were recovered. 

But he said he could not rule out the possibility the A320 aircraft with 66 people aboard was brought down by a terrorist attack. 

“We’re not excluding the possibility that this was a terrorist attack, however we don't want to base our statements on theories - we need facts,” he told a press conference in Cairo. 

The minister said there had been no specific threats made against the airliner and that he was not aware of any increase in terrorist “chatter” that might indicate an imminent plot. 

He said there were three security guards onboard the flight. Two of them were veterans while the third was a trainee. 

The EgyptAir flight flew to Tunisia and back to Cairo before making its journey to Paris. It picked up passengers at Charles de Gaulle and was en route back to Cairo when it disappeared.

The flight made its last contact at around 2.40am this morning and disappeared from radar at around 2.45am, shortly before entering Egyptian airspace. 

Mr Fathy said Egypt would lead the investigation but was working closely with France and other governments. 

Egyptian aviation is facing its third major crisis in a year after the Islamic State bombed a Russian airliner over the Sinai in October and an Egyptian man hijacked and EgyptAir flight in March and forced it to land in Cyprus. 

Mr Fathy insisted it was still safe to fly in and out of Egypt despite the string of incidents. 

"Two orange pieces of debris found"

A Greek military official has told AFP that a search plane has found two orange items believed to be part of EgyptAir flight MS804.

He said they were found 230 miles southeast of the Island of Crete, but within the Egyptian air traffic control area.

He said one of the items was "oblong."

Debris found in search area - Greek army

The Greek army has told Reuters that it has found debris feared to be from missing flight MS804 in the search area.