The EgyptAir Flight May Have Been Terrorism

On Thursday morning Egyptian time, a plane operated by EgyptAir unexpectedly went missing just minutes after entering Egyptian airspace. The location of EgyptAir Flight 804 has not yet been confirmed, but authorities have suggested the plane must have somehow crashed with more than 60 passengers on board. Given that ISIS' Egypt branch claimed to have brought down Metrojet Flight 9268, which had had 224 people aboard the plane, in Egyptian airspace back in November, the plane's disappearance has stoked fears that ISIS may be behind the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804.

So far, the terrorist group has not claimed responsibility for the crash. Typically, in the hours following a deliberate terrorist attack carried out by ISIS, the group swiftly takes responsibility for the attack. In a statement, French president Francois Hollande noted, “When we have the truth, we must draw all the conclusions, whether it is an accident or another hypothesis — which everybody has in mind, the terrorist hypothesis."

Egyptian authorities claimed in a press conference that the possibility of a terrorist attack was "stronger" than the possibility of mechanical failure — the Airbus A320 is, after all, one of the safest jets ever made — although that has to be assumed to be conjecture at this point.

Later on Thursday, after search and rescue teams had been dispatched to search the area for any indication of what had happened to the flight, two orange pieces of debris were reportedly found that were thought to have belonged the missing plane, fueling speculation that the plane had crashed.

Back in November, Russia's Metrojet 9268 disintegrated in mid-air above Sinai. ISIS claimed shortly thereafter that it had bombed the flight. In its official magazine, it also printed pictures of what it claimed to be the bomb. It wasn't until February that Egypt officially acknowledged the crash as terrorism.