Here's everything we know about the EgyptAir jet that crashed
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EgyptAir Flight 804 has disappeared and reportedly crashed while flying from Paris to Cairo.
The cause of the incident is as yet undetermined.
The airliner was an Airbus A320-232, registration number SU-GCC, and it was delivered to EgyptAir by Airbus on November 3, 2003.
SU-GCC was relatively new for an aircraft of its type. In fact, it was the youngest of the 11 A320s in the EgyptAir fleet.
The EgyptAir jet was powered by two International Aero Engines V2527-A5 turbofan engines.
According to an incident report by the Egyptian Air Accident Investigation Directorate, SU-GCC was forced to make an emergency landing in Cairo on June 25, 2013. According the report, one of its engines overheated while climbing past 24,000 feet. Investigators cited a technical defect in the engine as the likely cause for the overheating. No injuries were reported.
IAE is an international joint venture consisting of the Connecticut-based Pratt & Whitney, the Japanese Aero Engines Corporation, and MTU Aero Engines of Germany.
The Airbus A320 is a single-aisle, short- to medium-range airliner and is designed to operate multiple flights in one day.
Though the aircraft was configured with 144 seats, there were only 59 passengers on board along seven crew members.
Airbus has sold 12,499 aircraft in the A320 family of jets since the aircraft's debut in 1988, and it is the best-selling airplane in the world in the past 25 years.
According to Airbus, more than 6,700 of the planes are in service today.
Airbus released the following statement:
Airbus regrets to confirm that an A320 operated by Egyptair was lost at around 02:30 am (Egypt local time) today over the Mediterranean sea. The aircraft was operating a scheduled service, Flight MS 804 from Paris, France to Cairo, Egypt.
The aircraft involved, registered under SU-GCC was MSN (Manufacturer Serial Number) 2088 delivered to Egyptair from the production line in November 2003. The aircraft had accumulated approximately 48,000 flight hours. It was powered by IAE engines. At this time no further factual information is available.
In line with ICAO annex 13, Airbus stands-by ready to provide full technical assistance to French Investigation Agency — BEA — and to the Authorities in charge of the investigation.
The first A320 entered service in March 1988. At the end of April 2016 over 6700 A320 Family aircraft were in operation worldwide. To date, the entire fleet has accumulated nearly 180 million flight hours in over 98 million flights.
Our concerns go to all those affected.
Overall, the A320 has a stellar service and safety record over the past 25 years. The plane helped pioneer fly-by-wire control technology that is now common in modern airliners. According to the Air Safety Network, the A320 has been involved in just 24 incidents in which the plane had to be discarded.
Before Flight 804, the most recent fatal incident involving an A320 occurred in March 2015, when Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps. The cause of the crash has been attributed to the deliberate actions of the plane's copilot, who was deemed to be suicidal at the time of the flight.
The most recent fatal crash of an A320 attributed to a mechanical failure occurred in December 2014 when AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed the Java Sea. Indonesian investigators blamed the crash on a failure in plane's rudder-control unit.
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