Egyptian Media Blame Israel for A320 Passenger Jet Crash

FARS NEWS – The Egyptian media raised the possibility that the A320 passenger jet of EgyptAir airline which was en route from Paris to Cairo crashed due to Israeli fighter jets’ exercises in the region.

Al-Mesri al-Youm newspaper wrote that in its report of the plane’s crash, Greece hasn’t mentioned Israeli warplanes’ wargames in the Southern parts of Crete Island which was revealed earlier this month by Tel Aviv, adding that the maneuvers had started one night before the Egyptian plane’s crash.

It added that the exercises are staged with the goal of training the Israeli air force pilots using Greece’s airspace which is adjacent to Egypt and Libya. According to the report, Israel started the maneuvers on May 18 and they will last until next January.

Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry confirmed in a statement on May 19 that A320 passenger jet has crashed. Earlier, the ministry had said that an SOS message was sent out from the missing jet.

“The military received an SOS message from the plane emergency devices,” it said.

There were 56 passengers from 12 countries and 10 crew members onboard. The plane was expected to land in the Egyptian capital at 3:05 a.m. local time. The jet disappeared from radars some 280 kilometers from the Egyptian coast. The military received an SOS message from the plane’s emergency devices at 04:26 a.m. local time (0226 GMT). This is the second major incident with Egypt’s flag carrier airline this year.

SOURCE: FARS NEWSFARS NEWS