MS804

[Von Due]

Until they find some hard evidence, it might be a good idea, like been posted above, to think of all the things that can lead to something like this.

Deliberate actions by crew: A flight engineer attacked both pilots of Federal Express flight 705 with hammer and speargun in murder/suicide attempt. The pilots did successfully return though and the guy was arrested, tried and sentenced. Germanwings Flight 9525 saw the pilot commit murder/suicide.

Malfunctions. It is possible albeit extremely unlikely that the plane lost all electric power/radio/communications for some bizarre reason. Ice can cause sudden crashes. Ground maintenance errors like forgetting to remove duct tape covering the pitot tubes.

Structural: Airliners have disintegrated for no immediate apparent reason while in the air before. Comet, the first jet airliner (design flaw), China Airlines flight 611 (improper, previous repairs) and more.

Terrorism: Is a candidate too.

[Oberon]

A good summary there Von Due, hopefully now that they've located some of the wreckage from the flight they'll be able to narrow down the search area and locate the FDR.

[Jimbuna]

EgyptAir crash: Debris found from flight MS804

Debris from the missing EgyptAir flight has been found floating in the Mediterranean, Egyptian officials say.
Flight MS804 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 passengers and crew when it vanished early on Thursday.
Egypt's army spokesman said wreckage and passenger belongings were found 290km (180 miles) from Alexandria.
Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos said a body part, two seats and at least one suitcase had been found.
The items were found slightly to the south of the area where the plane disappeared from radars on Thursday, Mr Kammenos said.
The search is now focused on finding the plane's flight recorders, the Associated Press news agency reports.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-36339614

[Aktungbby]

With Von Due's summary in mind, I'm thinking massive tail/rudder failure a with AirAsia in 2014 and a rudder loss-combined with off-auto manual flying of the aircraft by the desperate pilot in extreme circumstances. Inasmuch as the 'dog is not barking'; no organization is taking 'credit' for a terrorist operation. That is not their usual modus operendi. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2015/12/01/harsh-truths-about-crash-of-airasia-qz8501-come-out/ Also:

March 2005: Air Transat Flight 961, an Airbus A310-308, en route from Cuba to Quebec City with nine crew and 261 passengers on board, experienced a structural failure in which the rudder detached in flight. The aircraft returned to Varadero, Cuba, where they made a safe landing. The crew made no unusual rudder inputs during the flight nor was the rudder being manipulated when it failed; there was no obvious fault in the rudder or yaw-damper system. Subsequent investigation determined that Airbus' inspection procedure for the composite rudder was inadequate; inspection procedures for composite structures on airliners were changed following this accident.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A310

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Aktungbby

Inasmuch as the 'dog is not barking'; no organization is taking 'credit' for a terrorist operation. That is not their usual modus operendi.

“received information from three independent channels”, that ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) received the following messages from the aircraft: 00:26Z 3044 ANTI ICE R WINDOW
00:26Z 561200 R SLIDING WINDOW SENSOR
00:26Z 2600 SMOKE LAVATORY SMOKE
00:27Z 2600 AVIONICS SMOKE
00:28Z 561100 R FIXED WINDOW SENSOR
00:29Z 2200 AUTO FLT FCU 2 FAULT
00:29Z 2700 F/CTL SEC 3 FAULT
The timestamps refer to GMT and point to the alerts being received in the minutes before the flight dropped off radar screens.

Still no claim by a terrorist group "in contrast to a quick claim by Isis after a Russian plane exploded over Egypt in November." Avionics fire appears likeliest at present....