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EgyptAir Flight from Paris to Cairo Missing with 66 On Board. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired May 19, 2016 - 04:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[04:33:07] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning: an EgyptAir flight heading from Paris to Cairo vanishes. A desperate search now for the plane and the 66 people on board. CNN tracking the very latest information coming in from around the world.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Boris Sanchez. We are 33 minutes past the hour. It is 10:33 in Cairo.

We're following breaking news right now. An Egyptian passenger jet has disappeared over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. EgyptAir MS804 dropped from radar overnight en route from Paris to Cairo about 175 miles off the coast of Egypt.

And just a few hours ago, EgyptAir reported there was a distress signal from the general vicinity of the plane. This just in: Egypt's president calling an emergency meeting of his national security council.

For the latest, let's bring in our Ian Lee. He is live at Cairo's international airport. What should we read into this emergency meeting? Does this indicate where the investigation might head?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, right now hearing from the Egyptian presidency, they are not ruling out anything. They're calling this meeting --

ROMANS: All right. Well just lost Ian's shot it looks like.

Look, a lot of developments here as they try to figure out what happened to this flight. Again, they're not even calling it a crash yet. But the assumption is after the handover from Greek authorities into Egyptian airspace, this flight disappeared some seven and a half hours ago. EgyptAir MS804 left Charles de Gaulle just after 11:00 p.m. local time last night.

EgyptAir says there were at least 15 French nationals on that plane. And, of course, the plane was made by Airbus, a French company. [04:35:01] France is already cooperating closely with Egypt, and the

French government is holding an emergency crisis meeting of its own right now to discuss the disappearance of this flight.

So, from that angle, for that angle, let's bring in senior European correspondent Jim Bittermann. He is in our Paris bureau.

Jim, what do we know at this hour?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. That urgency crisis meeting that took place a little bit ago, it's broken up. Now but the president is staying on top of the situation. He was awakened at about 6:00 local time by his foreign policy people and told about it. He immediately invoked the crisis meeting.

Kind of standard procedures for this kind of crisis where the president will gather his defense minister, the foreign minister and others around, make sure everybody is up to speed and on the same page as far as what the circumstances are.

Now the French have stepped forward and said, look, we're ready to help. We're ready to help in the search efforts that are taking place in the Mediterranean. We have military assets and what not that can be brought to bear if necessary. So far at least that has not happened, as well as the French investigator teams have not been called in.

The BEA here investigates crashes involving French aircraft. And because of the French citizens and also because of the departure from Paris, there is good reason for the French investigators to be involved. So far at least, they have not had the Egyptians asking them to come. So, their teams are standing by, but no word that they're on their way just yet.

Out of the airport, there is an investigation going on, and that is to talk to people who are directly involved in this aircraft's handling last night before it left here. Anybody who might have been involved, including baggage handler, the security people, even the folks who loaded the food service carts, that kind of thing, anybody who might have had any contact with the plane.

Also, at the airport a crisis center has been set up for the families. Apparently, there are some families that are starting to appear out there. They're trying to keep the press away from them, of course. There has been another crisis press center set up out there that is also part of the operation.

So, a lot of crisis management kind of going on here. But at the moment, at least, the French investigators have not left. They're not on their way. But they're waiting for word from the Egyptians to come -- Christine, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jim, a quick question for you. Last November, there were reports that there were dozens of people employed at the Charles de Gaulle Airport that were on a terror watch list. And there were promises from French authorities that there was going to be a review of safety procedures.

What came of that review?

BITTERMANN: Well, in fact a number of people were let go, were pushed out of the service to the airport. Others were put into special sort of categories and they're not allowed near any kind of sensitive areas. But yes, that has been a problem now for years, some years out there, that they've been watching people, 80,000 employees at the airport.

So, this is not exactly an easy task.

ROMANS: Right.

BITTERMANN: But they do know, they're very much aware of the problem and they've been working on it -- Christine, Boris.

ROMANS: All right. Jim Bittermann, thank you for that.

For more on the disappearance of EgyptAir 804, I want to bring in CNN anchor and aviation correspondent Richard Quest. He is live in our Beijing bureau. And Ian Lee is back with us.

Ian, I'll go to you first there is a lot of traffic in the Mediterranean Sea, marine traffic in the Mediterranean Sea where they think this plane may have gone down.

So, at some point, there could be, I don't know, maybe there are going to be some of this marine traffic could have some witnesses who saw something here.

LEE: That's right. That's something Egyptian investigators are going to be looking for. Right now, though, they do have the Egyptian air force and navy on the scene of the area where this plane disappeared. They're scouring the area. Really is going to depend on what happened once the plane disappeared to determine if it did crash, how big of an area this will be.

But Egyptian officials are working with Greek authorities as well to comb this area, to look for any wreckage. And really, at this point too, the potential for any survivors could have someone survived this crash.

I know here at the airport where I am, family members are demanding answers to what happened to their loved ones. They're hoping against all odds that their family members will have survived whatever happened to this crash.

It's important to note, though, at this point, talking to Egyptian officials, they have yet to say this plane has crashed. Even though it's been about eight hours since it disappeared from radar, they're still saying that this plane has disappeared, and they are looking for it.

Now, two hours after this plane disappeared, they did receive an emergency distress signal. This is coming from two Egyptian officials. They are telling us that the vice president of EgyptAir is saying this distress signal could have been from something else.

[04:40:01] They're not sure what it's from. It could be from the plane, he says. They just don't know at this time.

The Egyptian military, though, is questioning that claim right now. So, I think the real takeaway is there is a lot of moving parts. It's still early in the investigation. Right now, Egyptian authorities are focusing on trying to find that plane.

SANCHEZ: All right. I want to turn to Richard Quest right now. We've been talking about the ambiguity of the distress signal, whether or not it was sent by the pilots, whether or not it may have been sent by a device onboard. You have covered dozens of incidents like this one.

What do we know so far about these distress signals and what exactly could it mean that it was sent two hours after the plane was reported missing?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Very good questions. I mean, the fact that they described it as a distress signal, and then the army has now said that no distress signal has been received adds an element of confusion and chaos to the whole thing. I don't think at all -- in fact, I'm pretty certain we're not talking about a mayday in this thing from the pilots themselves.

I think when you talk about a distress signal, if such a signal has been received. You're talking about something from one of the emergency locator transmitters. Now they are designed to send a satellite emergency signal if there is a sudden dramatic loss of pressure. There are some that are designed for if the plane hits ground, hard ground. And there are others, the ELTs that are designed for if the plane goes into water. And the life rafts, for example, if they become dislodged, they have ELTs that will send a automatic signal.

I think we have to send a healthy dose of skepticism about this distress signal at the moment. In the same way, I think with we have to be a little skeptical that we have already heard from EgyptAir that there was nothing in the hold, there was no dangerous cargo on board, these things.

It's too soon to say. At this point in any incident, the airline is focused on, A, the families and informing the next of kin; B, preserving the integrity of the documentation, the maintenance records, the flight data, the dispatch load and all the flight planning. C, getting the information on the aircraft, the history, what maintenance it has had, all those sort of things.

That is what is going on at the moment with EgyptAir, because they're going to have to come up with -- they're going to have to come up with detailed analysis pretty quickly about the history of that plane and its crew.

Finally, of course, the single most important thing, find the wreckage. Find the wreckage, you find the plane. Find the plane, you find the data recorders. Find the data recorders, you find the cause.

ROMANS: We know there is a lot of marine activity in that area. There is always a lot of boat traffic, marine traffic. But now because of the refugee crisis, the migrant crisis, there is even more going on in that region right now.

So, perhaps some time today we'll start to hear what people in the region, in the area are seeing. Authorities, Richard, ruling nothing out here, ruling nothing out. We know that 37,000 feet was where -- was how high this plane was traveling when it disappeared. It wasn't in the riskier takeoff or landing part of the flight trajectory.

What does that tell you?

QUEST: It tells me that nothing should happen.

ROMANS: Right.

QUEST: I mean, at that part of the flight, it is the safest. It's known as in the cruise.

But here is the point. We have had two or three incidents in the last five or six years where there have been -- where there have been accidents, fatal crashes, Air France 447, AirAsia in the Java Sea. In both of those cases, the plane was in the cruise. There was a mechanical fault of one description or another. And the way the pilots then flew the plane --

ROMANS: Right.

QUEST: -- caused it to stall.

But the A320, there are 4,000 in service, 8,000 on order. It is a highly automated aircraft with what is known as alpha protections, or a flight envelope protection.

Now, some pilots will tell you they don't like it because it means the crew can't control it in the same way. Other pilots will tell you it makes it a safer aircraft. The gist of my comment is so far we cannot pin any reason to say the plane is unsafe or there is any reason to doubt what has happened in terms of the aircraft.

SANCHEZ: Many questions to be answered. Richard Quest, thank you so much for your perspective.

We're tracking new information on the EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo missing with 66 people on board. What could have gone wrong, next.

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[04:49:01] SANCHEZ: It's now been more than eight hours since EgyptAir 804 vanished. And here's what we know so far: the Airbus A- 320 was traveling from Paris to Cairo when it vanished from radar over the Mediterranean Sea. There were 66 people on board, including ten crewmembers. Well also know there are two infants on board including a young child.

The aircraft went missing at 37,000 feet, moments after crossing into Egyptian airspace. The Egyptian military right now is searching for the jetliner. They say detected a distress signal from the general vicinity of where the plane may have gone down.

ROMANS: Greece has joined the flight for EgyptAir. They are also deploying a frigate to the area with choppers standing by with potential rescues or recovery operations.

I want to go to Athens and bring in journalist Elinda Labropoulou to tell us more from what is happening from that angle.

We know that the seas are pretty busy from that area, because of marine traffic, also because of refugee traffic.

[04:50:05] ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST (via telephone): Well, absolutely, it's a busy area. So, it's everyone's question, how could this just simply disappeared, how can an entire plane have simply disappeared?

What we do know for the time being is really the plane's last location was over the Mediterranean Sea, and the Greeks seem to be the last people who were actually spoken to the pilots. The Greek civil aviation authority have confirmed that the air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot of the plane just one minute before the aircraft exited Greek airspace. The pilots at the time did not mention any problem.

And we have to also keep in mind that this is all likely to be standard procedure when a plane crosses from one country to another. So, nothing unusual there. And two minutes later, the Greeks said that they lost control. They lost touch with the plane.

Their radar could no longer see it. And from there on, it's not quite clear what has happened. The Egyptian authorities had initially said that they may have received a distress signal but later denied that is something that remains to be confirmed. The Greeks to have established contact with plane and that nothing was wrong at the time.

Now, Greece is working closely with Egypt. They're monitoring the area. They're scanning the area together. Greece is taking part in this big search-and-rescue operation.

It has sent military aircraft. It has sent a frigate in the area, and Greek authorities have also for some helicopters standing by on the southern island of Karpathos as the closest land point in Greece that we no to where the plane went from. So, Greek authorities are very much on standby, waiting for potential rescue or recovery operations if indeed there are any.

ROMANS: Linda, we know in Cairo that families are starting to gather there. We know there were 15 French citizens on board, 66 people on board, as well as three security personnel.

What do we know about the manifest, who was on board that plane, and what kind of cargo it might have been carrying?

(INAUDIBLE)

ROMANS: All right. Elinda, thank you for that. I think we have lost her contact there.

SANCHEZ: All right. Well, as the search unfolds, there are new questions about this news of a distress signal that was perceived from the vicinity of where the plane vanished.

We want to bring in CNN's Nic Robertson right now. He is tracking the latest developments from London.

Nic, reading all these initial details, the fact that the weather was clear and that the plane was in the safest phase of flight, how do you read all these details?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's distressing and concerning. It points to some kind of catastrophic failure, the fact that the pilots, or the pilot or the copilot or both of them talked to Greek air authorities just before passing out of Greek airspace. We know from Egyptian authorities that they were inside Egyptian airspace for ten miles. That equates to a very short amount of time.

One would have expected a communication between the aircraft and Egyptian air traffic controllers as it passed across the border there, handing off the Greeks having that last communication, entering Egyptian airspace, we could expect communication there.

Look, you know, I think we're getting a lot of information here, you know, from civilian radar. We know that there are military ships, military aircraft, Greek and Egyptians that are being deployed to that area as part of the search and rescue.

But I think a very important, some very important pieces of information in the context of what precisely happened in those few minutes where it disappeared, the plane disappeared off the radar. Interestingly, as it passes from one air traffic control to a different set of air traffic controllers. That reminds us of MH370 where the aircraft there switched off transponders, and that's how it disappeared. It was later picked up on military radar.

So, I think there is a lot of information here that perhaps military assets in that area can help with that area of the Mediterranean, of course, not so far from the Libyan coast. Not so far from where there are a lot of military activities going on over flights surveillance, those sorts of military assets. Now they can potentially, we're talking here potentially U.S. military, and then NATO allies that will be able to scan and search their data for what was happening in the air at this time.

Are there any anomalies that they can see? Is there anything about this aircraft's movements in the last minutes that are going to give clues?

So, I think there is a lot more to be learned here from military assets in that area.

[04:55:05] That may be a little slower in coming.

ROMANS: All right. Nic Robertson for us in London, thank you for that, Nic.

We're tracking all that information for you on that missing EgyptAir flight plane vanished on its way from Paris to Cairo eight hours ago.

EARLY START continues right now.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ROMANS: Breaking news this morning: an EgyptAir flight heading from Paris to Cairo vanishes. There is a desperate search now for the plane and the 66 people on board. That search happening right now. CNN tracking the latest coming in from around the world.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

SANCHEZ: And I'm Boris Sanchez. We are at 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. It is about 11:00 a.m. in Egypt. But we are following breaking news this morning.

An Egyptian passenger jet has disappeared over the eastern Mediterranean.