EgyptAir plane debris found near Alexandria: Egypt military

CAIRO: The Egyptian military said on Friday it had found parts of debris from the missing EgyptAir plane 290 kilometers north of the Mediterranean coastal city of Alexandria.

The navy has also found some of the passengers' belongings and is sweeping the area looking for the plane's black box, the military said in a statement.

An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo had disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean on Thursday in a crash that Egypt said may have been caused by a terrorist attack.

The Egyptian civil aviation ministry initially said Greek authorities had found "floating material" and life jackets likely to be from the plane, an Airbus A320.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail had said it was too early to rule out any explanation for the crash, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula last year. The country's aviation minister had said that a terrorist attack was more likely than a technical failure.

Amid uncertainty about what downed the plane, Los Angeles International Airport became the first major US air transportation hub to say it was stepping up security measures.

"In light of the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight MS804, we have heightened our security posture and enhanced our counter-terrorism security measures," the Los Angeles Airport Police said in a statement.

Greece had deployed aircraft and a frigate to search for the missing plane. Egypt said it would lead the investigation and France would participate.

Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved 90 degrees to the left, spun through 360 degrees to the right and plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.

According to Greece's civil aviation chief, calls from Greek air traffic controllers to flight MS804 went unanswered just before it left Greek airspace, and it disappeared from radar screens soon afterwards.

French President Francois Hollande also said the cause was unknown. "No hypothesis can be ruled out, nor can any be favoured over another."

The aircraft was carrying 56 passengers, including one child and two infants, and 10 crew, EgyptAir said. They included 30 Egyptian and 15 French nationals, along with citizens of 10 other countries.

The Canadian government had said on Thursday two Canadian citizens were aboard and Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion said Canadian officials were working with authorities to confirm if any other Canadians were on the flight.

A man identified as an Australian-UK dual national was also aboard, according to the Australian government.

The US State Department had said there was no indication that American citizens were on board.

With its archaeological sites and Red Sea resorts, Egypt is a traditional destination for Western tourists. But the industry has been badly hit by the downing of a Russian Metrojet flight last October, in which all 224 people on board were killed, as well as by an insurgency and a string of bomb attacks.