EgyptAir crash: Officials say debris found in search for MS804 'does not belong to an aircraft'

The official said 'an assessment of the finds showed that they do not belong to an aircraft'

Authorities said the items spotted by search ships were not from the missing EgyptAir plane ( Tarek Wahba)

Debris found so far during the search for the missing EgyptAir flight MS804 does not belong to an aircraft, a senior Greek air safety official has said.

Athanassios Binis, head of Greece's Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board, told state ERT TV "an assessment of the finds showed that they do not belong to an aircraft."

He said this had been confirmed by Egyptian authorities.

EgyptAir previously announced that floating wreckage belonging to flight MS804 had been found near the Greek island of Karpathios.

"The Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation has just received an official letter from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs declaring the finding of wreckage of the missing aircraft MS804 near Karpathos island," a statement said.

"EgyptAir sincerely conveys its deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard. Family members of passengers and crew have been already informed and we extend our deepest sympathies to those affected."

The airline's vice president, Ahmed Adel, later admitted that the company had been mistaken.

“We stand corrected on finding the wreckage because what we identified is not a part of our plane," he told CNN. "So the search and rescue is still going on."

Greek military officials said a Greek C-130 military transport plane is still searching for debris from the passenger plane, but a frigate initially sent to the area has been recalled.

The same officials said all potential debris located so far in the sea has been spotted by Egyptian aircraft.