DHAKA: An EgyptAir flight that crashed in the Mediterranean did not swerve and change direction before disappearing, an Egyptian official says.

The Airbus A320 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people aboard when it vanished from radar early on Thursday.

Greece’s defence minister said the plane turned 90 degrees left and then did a 360-degree turn towards the right before plummeting.

But a senior Egyptian aviation official said there was no unusual movement, reports the BBC on Tuesday (May 24).

Ehab Azmy, the head of Egypt’s state-run provider of air navigation services said that the plane had been flying at its normal height of 37,000ft (11,280m) before dropping off the radar. Some debris has since been found.

Greece’s defence minister Panos Kammenos had said the radar showed the Airbus A320 making two sharp turns and dropping more than 25,000ft (7,620m) before plunging into the sea.

Azmy added that there were no problems with the plane as it entered Egyptian airspace, where it was tracked for “nearly a minute or two before it disappeared”.

Greek aviation officials had said air traffic controllers spoke to the pilot when he entered Greek airspace and everything appeared normal.

BDST: 1007 HRS, May 24, 2016
BD