Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Egyptian and Greek search teams continue to scour the area of the Mediterranean Sea where they suspect an Egyptair Airbus A320 crashed while on its way from Paris to Cairo carrying 66 passengers and crewmembers. Operating as Flight MS804, the jet disappeared from radar at about 2:45 a.m. local time&nbsp;on Thursday, soon after passing through Greek airspace. French President François Hollande later confirmed that it had crashed.

 


Greek defense minister Panos Kammenos said radar detected the Airbus jet turning 90 degrees to the left, followed by a 360-degree spin to the right. After the aircraft plummeted from 37,000 feet to 15,000, controllers lost radar contact. Egyptian officials cautioned against any speculation about terrorism as the possible cause, while Egyptair issued what amounted to an admonishment of “misleading” news accounts.

 


“Egyptair denies all misleading information published by news web sites and on the social media channels regarding the reasons [for] the disappearance of Egyptair Flight MS804 and the company confirms that the reason [for] disappearance hasn't been yet [been] confirmed,” said the airline in a statement.

 


Egyptian aviation security practices have undergone scrutiny since a Metrojet A321 crashed soon after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh on its way to St. Petersburg, Russia, on October 31. Although British and U.S. authorities later <a href="http://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/air-transport/2015-11-17/russia-concludes-bomb-brought-down-metrojet-a321">concluded a bomb brought down the airplane</a>, Egypt has yet to officially declare terrorism as the cause.

 


Airbus delivered the aircraft involved in the latest crash, MSN 2088, to Egyptair in November 2003. Powered by IAE engines, it had accumulated approximately 48,000 flight hours. The manufacturer said it stands ready to provide full technical assistance to the French investigation agency BEA and Egyptian authorities in charge of the investigation.

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