# EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo missing over Med {This was in 2016} **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145 "2016-05-19T04:26:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/1 "2016-05-19T04:26:23Z")
The Guardian has a constantly-updating story [here](http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/may/19/egyptair-plane-cairo-paris-live-updates). Last known position seems to have been over the Mediterranean Sea, about 30-40 miles off the Egyptian coast. That’s not good! ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/2 "2016-05-19T06:17:32Z")
Apparently, it just disappeared from the sky. No, that isnt good. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/3 "2016-05-19T07:23:36Z")
Things are somewhat confused at the moment, but there have been reports of a fireball in the sky about the time the plane should have started its descent. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/4 "2016-05-19T07:29:17Z")
Whose thinking terror here? ☹ ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/5 "2016-05-19T07:43:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Whose thinking terror here? ☹ Or it could be like TWA Flight 800 > **[TWA Flight 800](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWA_Flight_800)** > > Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TW800/TWA800) was a scheduled international passenger flight from New York (John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Rome, with a stopover in Paris. On July 17, 1996, at approximately 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff, the Boeing 747-100 serving the flight exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York.: 1  > All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investi... ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/6 "2016-05-19T11:20:53Z")
I have a question which someone may or may not know the answer to. I often follow the flights of family members on FlightAware. What does it do in the event of a crash? Does it display any type of notice or does the plane simply disappear from the map with no explanation? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/7 "2016-05-19T11:40:50Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I have a question which someone may or may not know the answer to. I often follow the flights of family members on FlightAware. What does it do in the event of a crash? Does it display any type of notice or does the plane simply disappear from the map with no explanation? They eventually disappear, sometimes after showing an estimated position for a long time. These sites don’t have total global coverage (especially over oceans), so when they lose a plane, 99.999% of the time it means that it’s just flying somewhere they can’t see. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/8 "2016-05-19T12:09:18Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Whose thinking terror here? ☹ Whose thinking way too damn early to tell here? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/9 "2016-05-19T12:28:13Z")
Fortunately they should have little difficulty in spotting the wreckage and recovering the data recorders. Speculation seems of little value here as we’ll have actual knowledge soon enough. Could have been terror, could have been a catastrophic mechanical issue, who knows? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/10 "2016-05-19T12:41:04Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > Whose thinking way too damn early to tell here? [Not Trump.](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/05/egyptair-missing-trump-terrorism-223351) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/11 "2016-05-19T13:09:29Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Whose thinking terror here? ☹ Someone on CNN commented that it would be odd to drop the plane over water when there were a number of cities it could have been downed over. Not ruling out terror but it just seems odd not to maximize casualties. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/12 "2016-05-19T13:16:18Z")
I wish every news outlet would simply have the sense and courage to stop flapping their gums and speculating about shit they know nothing about. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/13 "2016-05-19T13:32:48Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > They eventually disappear, sometimes after showing an estimated position for a long time. These sites don’t have total global coverage (especially over oceans), so when they lose a plane, 99.999% of the time it means that it’s just flying somewhere they can’t see. I had a look a few minutes ago and on the main graph it lists the flight status as “result unknown” with the route map showing it arriving in Cairo. If one then clicks on the “track log & graph” link, you get a speed/altitude graph that cuts off at the point where contact was lost, and a list of waypoints with location coordinates, speed and altitude, with the data ending at 8:29 EDT. The remaining way points into Cairo show location coordinates only,’ with the legend “estimated”. By contrast, IIRC, the track of that German(?) Airbus that was deliberately crashed in the Alps a while back showed the whole descent until the plane hit a mountain, presumably because the aircraft and transponder were still intact until impact. ---
**Author:** ![Ryan\_Liam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ryan_liam/32/3965_2.png) [@Ryan\_Liam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryan_Liam)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/14 "2016-05-19T16:28:28Z")
> **[Learmount.com](https://davidlearmount.com/)** > > How aviation works - in the cockpit, the cabin, the hangar, and the air traffic control centre This guys explanation is good. He’s been on a few Aircraft Investigation programmes. > [@](#): > > \*\*David Learmount > \*\* > It’s tempting to speculate that the loss of Egyptair MS804, an A320, was caused by sabotage because that’s what happened to the Metrojet flight out of Sharm el-Sheikh last year. > > But, in the last decade, several aircraft have quietly gone missing during cruising flight without being brought down by explosives or in-flight break-up. The most obvious example was an Air France A330 that went missing in the south Atlantic in 2009, but there are others. And there is no information yet which would rule in or rule out either of those scenarios. > > Greece’s Defence Minister Panos Kammenos has told a news conference that soon after entering Egyptian airspace, the A320 had turned “90 degrees left and 360 degrees to the right” before descending and disappearing off radar at 15,000ft. If that information is confirmed – and I have no reason to doubt it – the flight had clearly been destabilised, but the cause of the destabilisation is not known. > > The aircraft’s last known position is over the Mediterranean south-east of Crete and south-west of Cyprus, but still more than 100nm off Egypt’s northern coast. Fairly soon some useful information is likely to become available because several military units – ships and aircraft – have been committed to a search of the area. > > If, for example, there is a floating wreckage field and it is very widely dispersed, it will suggest an in-flight break-up. > > But breakup can happen for reasons other than an explosion – although history and modern experience says that’s highly unlikely. > > The aircraft and its “black box” recorders are almost certain to be found because, after other aircraft losses in the sea, recorders have been recovered in working condition from deeper waters than this. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/15 "2016-05-19T16:52:37Z")
CNN’s reporting they found the wreckage. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/16 "2016-05-19T17:03:23Z")
[Zombies.](http://www.amc.com/shows/fear-the-walking-dead/video-extras/fear-the-walking-dead-flight-462-parts-1-16) I’m thinking zombies. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/17 "2016-05-19T17:15:52Z")
The Mediterranean Sea average depth is 4,900. How difficult will it be to recover the black boxes or sunken pieces? ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/18 "2016-05-19T17:45:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > The Mediterranean Sea average depth is 4,900. How difficult will it be to recover the black boxes or sunken pieces? Depend on if that is in inches, feet, meters, kilometers, miles, AUs. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/19 "2016-05-19T19:04:28Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Depend on if that is in inches, feet, meters, kilometers, miles, AUs. Sorry, feet. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145/20 "2016-05-19T19:47:23Z")
On several sites it looks like Egyptian officials are leaning towards terrorism but are hedging their bets. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/egyptair-flight-from-paris-to-cairo-missing-over-med-this-was-in-2016/755145.md?page=2)