An EgyptAir flight from Paris to Cairo has been declared missing shortly after leaving Greece air space and there are fears it may have crashed into the Mediterranean sea.

The Plane departed Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris on Wednesday and was scheduled to arrive Cairo on Thursday.

It had a total of 66 people on board, comprising 56 passengers, seven crew members and three security personnel. Three of the passengers were children.

According to records obtained from Egyptair, 30 of the passengers were Egyptians, 15 were French Nationals, 2 Iraqis and 1 each from Britain, Canada, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Sudan, Chad and Portugal.

Greek aviation officials said its air traffic controllers had talked with the pilot a few minutes before the plane went off the radar and that everything had appeared normal.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s Prime Minister, Sherif Ismail, says search was underway for the missing plane, adding that it was too early to rule out any explanation, including terrorism.

“We cannot exclude anything at this time or confirm anything. All the search operations must be concluded so we can know the cause,” he said.

The search and rescue operation involves the Greek and Egyptian armed forces with France promising to send boats and planes to help in the effort.

This latest incident is coming less than two months after a flight from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked in March, by a man wearing fake explosive belt, and was forced to land at Cyprus.

The man later gave himself up and has since been extradited to Egypt to face charges.