EgyptAir flight MS804: What we know so far

The Egyptian military says passengers' belongings and wreckage from EgyptAir flight MS804 have been found in the sea 290km north of the city of Alexandria. The plane disappeared early yesterday morning in Egyptian airspace, sparking a huge international search.

Here is what we know about what happened:

  • Flight MS804 was travelling from Paris to Cairo, and took off from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 11.09pm local time.

  • The flight disappeared from radar around three and a half hours into its journey, shortly after leaving Greek airspace.

  • The Egyptian military says debris from the plane has now been found in the sea 290km north of the city of Alexandria, after earlier reports that wreckage from the plane was found turned out to be wrong.

  • French President Francois Hollande has said all information suggested the plane had crashed but it was too early to speculate on the cause of the incident.

  • Greece's defence minister said the plane made "sudden swerves" mid-air and "plunged" before dropping off radars.

  • Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail said there was no "distress call" from the missing EgyptAir flight, but a "signal" was received from the plane.

  • EgyptAir said 56 passengers were on board, including two babies and a child. There were three airline security personnel and seven cabin crew - making a total of 66 people on board.

  • The airline has said there is one Briton, 30 Egyptians,15 French, two Iraqis and one each from Canada, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabic, Algeria, Sudan, Chad and Portugal on board.

  • Egypt's general prosecutor has ordered a state security investigation into the incident.

  • The UK Foreign Office said it is working closely with the Egyptian and French authorities.

  • The pilot had 6275 flight hours.

  • Egypt's president is chairing a national security council meeting on Thursday.