It comes as Egypt’s military recovers human remains, seats and suitcases from a search area 290km north of Alexandria in the Mediterranean Sea.
The daily Al-Masry Al-Youm said Sherif Fathi told families on Friday the military is doing all they can to locate the rest of the missing plane which mysteriously vanished en route from Paris to Cairo.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said officials received word from Egyptian authorities human remains, suitcases and debris had been found slightly south of where the plane vanished from radar signals.
EgyptAir has released the names of the pilot and co-pilot as Mohamed Said Aly Aly Shakeer’s and the co-pilot as Mohamed Mamdouh Assem in a statement to NBC News.
The flight attendants were named as Mervat Zaki Zakri Mohamed, Atef Lutfy Abdel Lateef Amin, Samir Ezzedin Safwat Youssef, Haitham Mostafa Azz al Hameed Al Azzizi and Yara Hani Farag Tawfiq.
The three-man security detail included Mohamed Ahmed Abd al Razak Abd al Kareem, Ahmed Mohamed Magdy Ahmad and Mohamed Abdel Monim Al Ghoneimy al Kyal.
An Egyptian interior minister said the pilots had “no known political affiliations” and had passed routine background checks.
Also among those who vanished was family Salah Abu Laban, his wife Sahar Qouidar, their son Ghassan Abu Laban and daughter-in-law Reem al-Sebaei.
Their relative, Abdel-Rahman al-Nasry, told The Associated Press that “this is very hard for the family.” A friend of the family, Magdi Badr, says: “We pray for the victims.”
On Friday the European Space Agency said one of its satellites spotted a possible oil slick around the same place the plane disappeared. Images of the two kilometre spill have been passed on to search and rescue operations, the ESA said,
Earlier, Egyptian army spokesman Brig. General Mohammed Samir confirmed the findings on Facebook.
“The Egyptian aircraft and ships also found [Friday] morning personal items of some passengers of the plane,” he said.
It also emerged the plane had previously travelled to Eritrea, Tunisia and Belgium before making the trip from Paris to Cairo on which it mysteriously vanished.
Egyptian President Adbel Fattah al-Sisi has expressed “deep sadness and extreme regret” over the crash which is tantamount to acknowledging the deaths of the 66 passengers and crew on board.
It follows French President Francois Hollande’s comments yesterday over the “loss” of the plane.
EgyptAir confirmed news of the recovery in a statement saying the airline had just received official word from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wreckage had been found near Karpathos Island.
“EgyptAir sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers on-board Flight MS804,” the company said.
“Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected. Meanwhile, the Egyptian Investigation Team in co-operation with the Greek counterpart are still searching for other remains of the missing plane.”
The finding comes after reports from Greek authorities on Thursday who found debris off the coast of Crete that was later proved not to be from the missing plane.
MYSTERY REMAINS
A large scale search for the two black boxes involving military and commercial ships and planes is still underway.
Three French aviation accident investigators and an Airbus technical expert arrived in Cairo on Friday to join an Egypt-led investigation into the disappearance.
The reason for the plane vanishing is unknown although experts have speculated terrorism is a likely cause.
US officials said satellite images have not yet produced any signs of an explosion and mechanical failure or a deliberate act by the pilot or crew are still seen as potential causes.
Yesterday, Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said the Airbus swerved 90 degrees before spinning 360 degrees and plunged from 37,000 feet to 15,000 before vanishing from Greek radar screens.
Greece’s civil aviation boss said calls from air traffic control to the cockpit went unanswered.
The plane was travelling on a three and a half-hour flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board, including one triple Australian-British-Egyptian citizen, Richard Osman.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia was closely working with UK authorities who are providing consular assistance to Osman’s family.
Friends and family members of those on board have gathered at airports in Cairo and Paris to wait for news of their loved ones.
The disaster has been described as a crippling blow to an already struggling economy for Egypt, which is heavily reliant on tourism.
It follows the bombing of a Russian commercial flight over the Sinai Peninsula that killed all 224 people on board in November last year.
– With AP
This article was originally published on news.com.au and reproduced with permission.
