Foreign Minister: France ready to help in search for missing plane

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said his country is ready to place its military potentials at the service of the Egyptian authorities to search for the missing plane.

"Everything must be done to find the plane, that's why we're in contact with the Egyptian authorities...we are mobilizing and ready to send our military means, planes and boats, to search for this plane," Ayrault told reporters after a ministerial meeting with French President Francois Hollande.

The French foreign minister and Transport Minister Alain Vidalies are scheduled to head for Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to follow up the situation with the relatives of passengers who were on board the Airbus A320. 

Earlier in the day, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received a phone call from his French counterpart over an EgyptAir flight that disappeared from the radar 10 miles after entering the Egyptian air field, said Presidential spokesman Alaa Youssef.

The two leaders agreed to continue coordination to unravel the circumstances behind the flight disappearance, the spokesman added.

Hollande presided over a crisis meeting at Elysee Palace with the participation of a number of ministers, according to a statement by the French presidency.

Flight MS804 took off from Charles de Gaulle airport on Wednesday 23:09 Paris local time then it disappeared from radar after entering the Egyptian airspace.

Radar lost contact with the flight at 2:45 Cairo local time while it was at an altitude of 37,000 feet.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail has earlier arrived at the Operations Room of Cairo International Airport to follow up the disappearance of the flight with 66 persons, including 30 Egyptians and 15 French citizens, on board.

Source: MENA