Egypt air crash: Egyptian, French and Greek forces deployed in the area (update)
(B2) Very quickly, the three main countries most concerned by the crash of the EgyptAir A320 Airbus plane which occurred on the night of Wednesday to Thursday (19 May), dispatched air and sea resources to the scene, on the supposed crash area, located between the Greek island of Karpathos and the city of Alexandria. It is the Egyptian center for coordination, search and rescue at sea (JRCC) which coordinates the rescue, the place of the accident being located in the Egyptian rescue zone (read: Who coordinates rescue in the event of a plane crash? Why Egypt?).
Egyptian and Greek means
Egypt has deployed means - reconnaissance aircraft - and a ship, as evidenced by this video taken on the links of the crash.
The Greek armed forces on Thursday deployed a military C-130 aircraft, an aerial reconnaissance aircraft Erieye EMB-145 H. Another C-130 is also en route to the area, as well as the frigate Nikiforos Phokas and a Super Puma helicopter.
Falcon 50, then Atlantique 2 and the Jacoubet
For its part, the French Navy mobilized, as of Thursday morning (May 19), a maritime surveillance plane F, of the 24F flotilla, initially engaged in the European operation EUNAVFOR Med Sophia. He was then relayed by a plane Atlantique 2 (or ATL2), which took off from the naval aeronautics base of Hyères, on Friday morning (May 20). The ATL2 was quickly “ redirected to a new area by the Egyptian Relief Coordination Center (JRCC).
A deep-sea patrol boat, theEnsign Jacoubet (F-794), sailed on Friday from the military port of Toulon to reach the area. On board, indicates the national navy " equipment and specialized teams for underwater wreck research » : a doctor (in addition to the patrol nurse), two investigators (OPJ) from the maritime gendarmerie and the specialized air gendarmerie and two sailors from the human diving and intervention expertise cell under the sea (CEPHISMER). He should be there Monday.
According to " needs expressed by the Egyptian authorities, other means of the National Navy could be considered we say in Paris.
The hypothesis of a terrorist act is very quickly mentioned alongside the hypothesis of a technical incident.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Egyptians and French in majority and a dozen other nationalities
The EgyptAir Airbus A320 plane (MS804) which made the connection between Paris Charles-De-Gaulle and Cairo disappeared from radar screens in the night above the sea between Crete and Alexandria (Egypt). It had on board, according to the company, 66 people (56 passengers, 7 crew members and 3 security guards).
- 15 French.
- 1 Belgian: Geert Supré, regional director of Vanguard Logistics Services.
- 1 Briton (with dual Australian nationality): the doctor Richard Osman, a 40-year-old geologist who works for a gold mining company. He was married to a Frenchwoman according to The Guardian who writes his biography.
- 1 Portuguese: João Silva, 62-year-old civil engineer, head of Mota-Engil for African markets, according to José Luis Carneiro, Portuguese Secretary of State for Communities (as reported Correio da Manhã).
As well as :
- 30 Egyptians
- 1 Chadian: a cadet from St Cyr Coetquidan, Seitchi Mahamat.
- 1 Algerian
- 1 Canadian
- 2 Iraqis
- 1 Kuwaiti
- 1 Saudi
- 1 Sudanese