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April 27, 2022 – 9:44 pm
EgyptAir flight MS804 was en route from Paris to Cairo on May 19, 2016 when the plane disappeared from radar. The plane crashed in the Mediterranean under mysterious circumstances near Crete. 66 people on board died. Egyptian authorities initially assumed it was a terrorist attack. However, an investigative report comes to a different conclusion. Apparently, a cigarette in the cockpit was the cause of the accident.
Pilot accused of smoking aboard EgyptAir plane
As the “New York Post” reports, the French “Bureau for Investigation and Analysis of Civil Aviation Security” came to the conclusion that the pilot of the plane must have smoked on board. His glowing cigarette is said to have started a fire in the cockpit, which led to the plane crashing. 56 passengers and ten crew died.
As there were mainly Egyptians and French on board, both countries investigated the accident. Egypt initially assumed an explosion on board and spoke of traces of explosives on the victims’ bodies. However, French investigators refuted this thesis in 2018. They analyzed flight data from flight MS804, which was recorded by the black box, reports the newspaper. Even so, it was clear that there must have been a fire on board. The reason for this was unclear until now.
In 2016, the EgyptAir plane crashed in the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board.
© dpa, hands
A glowing cigarette and an oxygen leak caused a fire in the cockpit
According to the New York Post, a new report from the investigative agency now claims that oxygen leaked from one of the pilots’ oxygen masks. The hiss of gas could be heard on the voice recorder in the cockpit shortly before the accident. That oxygen leak, along with the pilot’s lit cigarette, was fatal, the report said.
At that time, EgyptAir pilots could still smoke during a flight, writes the paper. But this is now prohibited. Egyptian authorities have not yet published any results of the investigation. As the accident is being heard before a French court, the judge ordered a new report. (jgr)