An EgyptAir jet carrying 66 passengers and crew from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar over the Mediterranean sea on Thursday after swerving in mid-air and plunging from cruising height. French President Francois Hollande confirmed the aircraft “came down and is lost”.

Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced a search was under way for the missing Airbus A320 but it was too early to rule out any explanation, including an attack like the one blamed for bringing down a Russian airliner over Egypt’s Sinai peninsula last year.

This was corroborated Greece’s defence minister says.Dr. Panos Kammenos who said the Airbus A320 had “turned 90 degrees left and then a 360-degree turn to the right”.

It then dropped more than 25,000ft before disappearing from radar, he added.

Egypt’s civil aviation minister Sherif Fathi has said the possibility of a terror attack is “stronger” than technical failure, adding that no wreckage had yet been found but latest reports suggest search teams have sighted debris from the plane.

Sixty-six people were on board, most of them from Egypt or France.

The search in seas south of the Greek island of Karpathos involves Greek and Egyptian naval forces.

Of those on the plane, 56 were passengers, seven were crew members and three were security personnel. A Briton was among those on board.

Flight MS804 left Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 23:09 local time on Wednesday (21:09 GMT) and was scheduled to arrive in the Egyptian capital soon after 03:15 local time on Thursday.

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EgyptAir said the plane had been flying at 11,300m (37,000ft) when it disappeared from radar shortly after entering Egyptian airspace.

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

They tried to contact him again at 02:27 Cairo time, as the plane was set to enter Egyptian airspace, but “despite repeated calls, the aircraft did not respond”. Two minutes later it vanished from radar.

French President Francois Hollande said he was keeping an open mind about the cause: “We will draw conclusions when we have the truth about what happened.

“Whether it was an accident, or whether it was – and it’s something that is on our minds – terrorism.”

US President Barack Obama has been briefed on the EgyptAir crash according to the White House.

The briefing was given by Lisa Monaco, adviser for homeland security and counter-terrorism, Reuters reported.

Obama asked to be updated throughout the day and directed administration officials to reach out to their international counterparts to offer support and assistance, deputy White House Press Secretary Eric Schultz said in a statement.