Photo by Mehmet Mustafa Celik, CC BYSA 4.0, via Wikimedia
An Egyptair plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in 2016, killing all 66 people on board because a pilot was said to be smoking a cigarette in the cockpit Report seen by the largest Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera. The case is being examined by the French public prosecutor’s office.
Egyptair flight MS804 was en route from Paris to Cairo but crashed into the sea on May 19, 2016 in what was initially described by Egyptian authorities as a terrorist attack. However, researchers believe the smoke pilot theory is much more likely.
The Airbus A320 plane fell 37,000 feet into the Mediterranean Sea after one of the two pilots lit a cigarette, which in turn caused a cockpit fire fueled by the fact there was a leaking oxygen mask.
The jet took off from Paris at 11:21 p.m. on May 19, 2016, but at 2:27 a.m. a Greek air traffic controller was unable to make contact with the aircraft. A few minutes later, at 2:34 a.m., the plane disappeared from radar. No emergency calls were made before the plane crashed.
The 134page report concludes that this combination of events is far more likely than the terrorist attacks theory, according to Corriere della Sera.
Up until the time of the accident, Egyptair had not banned the pilots from smoking in the cockpit. The oxygen mask had been replaced a few days before the accident, but the engineer who installed it allegedly forgot to switch it from emergency mode to normal mode, causing oxygen to leak.
Both flight recorders were recovered about a month after the accident and analyzed by experts from the French aviation accident authority BEA. Recovered audio recordings indicate pilots were checking oxygen masks, but pilots also complained of fatigue and yawns were heard on the recording.
The dossier, unveiled this week, has been handed over to the Paris Court of Appeal, where prosecutors are investigating possible wrongful death charges.