EgyptAir crash: Briton on board, UK offers to aid probe

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond confirmed on Thursday that a Briton was on board EgyptAir flight MS804 that vanished from radar on its way from Paris to Cairo, and said authorities were supporting the passenger’s family.

Foreign secretary Philip Hammond confirmed on Thursday that a Briton was on board EgyptAir flight MS804 that vanished from radar on its way from Paris to Cairo, and said authorities were supporting the passenger’s family.

An EgyptAir Airbus A330-300 coming from Cairo rolls on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside of Paris on Thursday. An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew on board crashed in the Mediterranean Sea early on Thursday morning. (AP)

Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch, which has expertise in the field, offered Egypt help in investigating the aircraft’s disappearance.

AAIB chief inspector Keith Conradi said: “We were saddened to hear that EgyptAir flight MS804 was reported missing this morning. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has offered to assist the Egyptian authorities with their investigation.”

Aviation analyst Paul Charles told BBC: “What this does suggest is that it is more of an incident in the cockpit itself of that aircraft. It does suggest it wasn't necessarily blown out of the sky by a missile potentially...it wasn't necessarily a device on board.

“It would suggest that the pilot has been involved in some way in an incident in the cockpit."