On May 19, 2016, the Egyptair airline Egyptair fell into the Mediterranean Sea. The liner made a flight from Paris to Cairo. Onboard there were 56 passengers and 10 crew members. They all died.
Incident
On the night of Wednesday to Thursday, May 19, 2016, an airplane crashed in Egypt over the Mediterranean Sea. It was a flight from Paris to the capital of Egypt - the city of Cairo.
According to media reports, 66 people went on a flight, 56 of them are passengers, and 10 people are crew members. Among those who flew, citizens of Egypt, Canada, Kuwait, Great Britain, France and other countries. The Russians were not on the plane.
By the end of Thursday, no exact information was provided about what had happened. Initially, the Egyptian airline said that the plane disappeared from the radar at 4 o’clock in the morning. Later, a representative of the Ministry of Civil Aviation of the country provided information that the plane gave distress signals at 6 am. After some time, the Egyptian military denied the fact that any signals from the missing airliner were received.
Crash site
The waters of the Mediterranean Sea - that unfortunate place. The plane crash in Egypt happened there. According to the airline, the plane was refueled before the flight with fuel, which would have been enough for about 10 hours of flight. Landing for the purpose of refueling was not completed. For this reason, the search for the aircraft and the victims were launched precisely in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the afternoon, representatives of Greece announced that the remains of aircraft parts had been found . The find was made in the place where the aircraft was last seen by radars.
In the evening of the same day, representatives of the airline initially denied this information, but after a few hours, they nevertheless confirmed that the information was correct. At 8 o'clock in the evening an official statement was made that the plane was found.
According to the data of the radars that last recorded the vehicle, at the time of the fall it flew at an altitude of 11 km at a speed of about 980 km per hour.
Information about the pilots
Both pilots had sufficient experience and experience. The main pilot had 6.3 thousand hours of flight, and the second - 2.8. On Airbus A320 aircraft, the pilot flew 2.1 thousand hours of flight. This confirms that inexperienced pilots cannot be called.
Details of what happened
Airplane Egyptian airlines flew from French territory at 0 hours 10 minutes (Moscow time). On the spot he was expected at 4 hours 15 minutes (Moscow time). However, the airborne vehicle disappeared from the surveillance area 30 minutes before the intended landing. According to representatives of Greece, the plane sharply deployed, after which it went into a tailspin and disappeared from the radar. The plane crash in Egypt (photo above) occurred a couple of minutes after the liner went beyond the borders of Greece.
According to the captain of a sea merchant ship, which was nearby (240 km), a flash of light occurred in the sky, similar to an explosion. The Internet even published a video that was shot from the ship. It shows a flash of light in the sky and its fall into the waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Information and video are subject to lengthy verification.
Liner condition
Airbus aircraft are considered quite reliable. The manufacturer said that Egyptian Airlines purchased the vehicle in 2003. Before that, the liner managed to fly almost 50 thousand hours. The aircraft has not yet exhausted its technical resource.
The flight from Paris to the capital of Egypt was the fifth for the liner per day. According to Egyptian news, three years ago, an Airbus A320 Egyptian airline had engine problems. The vehicle flew from Cairo to Istanbul. However, due to a breakdown, the aircraft was forced to return to the departure point. The cause was a malfunction of one of the engines.
Airplane malfunctions
According to the French publication, problems with the smoke system were recorded three times on the Airbus A320 a day before the tragedy. Information was obtained through the ACARS system, which is used to transfer messages between the aircraft and stations located on the ground. However, no complaints from aircraft personnel were reported.
Faults were recorded when an air vehicle flew over Eritrea, Tunisia, Egypt and France. In the toilet room, as well as in the side compartment, smoke detectors were turned on.
According to experts, the sensors could previously be triggered by the ingress of smoke, some aerosols or steam. However, recently their design has been finalized, and therefore such incidents have not been repeated. When smoke detectors are triggered, some safety features may be disabled, including automatic flight control protection.
According to a well-known American publication, a similar incident occurred with a United States plane five years earlier. As a result of the operation of the smoke sensors on board, some of the security system's functions stopped working, including communication with the dispatcher. The reason for the plane crash in Egypt may be this.
The question of why the pilots of the Egyptian plane did not report problems, remains open, an investigation is underway.
The Airbus A320 airliner was already the victim of terrorist attacks. A couple of years ago, the inscription appeared on the plane’s body: “This plane will be shot down.” However, according to experts, the incident is not connected with the tragedy. The reason could be the political situation in the country.
Versions of the reasons for the tragedy
All parties are interested in the investigation of the tragedy, and each of the countries offered assistance to Egypt in finding and establishing the reasons. According to media reports, among the passengers of the aircraft were: 30 citizens of Egypt, 15 - France, as well as one person from the citizens of Belgium, Algeria. Great Britain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Sudan, Chad and Portugal.
The weather was fine that day. There was not a cloud in the sky. Weather conditions were confirmed by images taken by NASA satellites, as well as the pilot of the plane that made the flight that night.
The plane crash in Egypt (photo below) formed several opinions about the causes of the incident. However, one of them is still the main one.
A plane crash in Egypt could well be a terrorist attack. This conclusion was reached by some French experts. Jean-Paul Truadeck said that he was almost sure that the cause of the crash was terrorist acts. Otherwise, the fall of the liner would not be so unexpected and had any fixed reasons, the team could have time to react. The Prime Minister of Egypt also did not rule out a version of the attack.
Director of the FSB of the Russian Federation A. Bortnikov is of the same opinion and regretted the commission of the second terrorist attack in Egypt. This time, the victims of terrorists were citizens of 12 states.
However, aviation expert Paul Charles has a different perspective. In his opinion, the unexpected turns that the plane made before disappearing may indicate some unplanned actions in the cockpit.
A possible cause of an airplane crash in Egypt is a system malfunction. In connection with the data obtained on the operation of smoke sensors, a version is being considered that the pilots of the liner could inadvertently disconnect some control systems.
Another disaster in the sky over Egypt
Earlier in Egypt, tragedies were already caused by terrorist acts. If the main version is confirmed, then we can talk about a third terrorist attack. In October 2015, a Russian airline crashed in Egypt, and in March an aircraft was hijacked.
Last fall, the plane of the Russian airline Kogalymavia exploded and crashed over Sinai. The vehicle flew from the famous resort of Sharm-El-Sheikh back to St. Petersburg. On board were vacationers who were returning home. 224 people became victims of the incident (plane crash in Egypt). After a thorough check of all the circumstances of the tragedy, it was established that the cause of the crash was terrorist acts. The transport communication with Egypt was decided to stop for a while. A similar decision was made by the British authorities.
The incident caused serious damage to the economy of Egypt. According to media reports, the country's monthly losses amount to $ 273 million. Russian tour operators also suffer financial losses, for which Egypt was one of the most popular destinations for tourists.
All the time after the incident, the parties negotiated the terms and conditions of a possible restoration of air communication between the countries. However, in March 2016, another event is occurring that negatively affects the negotiations - a terrorist hijacks an airplane belonging to the Egyptian side, forcing him to land on the island of Cyprus.
At the beginning of the year, the resumption of flights was considered as a very likely event. By the summer, the opening of the season and the beginning of sales of vouchers to resort towns were already expected. However, the incident showed that the precautionary measures of the Egyptian side and their updated security system do not bring results. Russia has become even more wary.
The plane crash over Egypt caused a lot of questions. Our side immediately expressed condolences in connection with the incident.
According to the French newspaper, the safety and reliability of the airport of Egypt, as well as its employees, is checked. Earlier, as a result of repeated checks among the staff, Islamic radical persons were found. They could have access to the baggage loading and unloading area.
At the same time, the crash of an airplane in Egypt by a Russian airline in 2015 was committed with the help of airport employees. Today this is the main version of the investigation.
Unexpected fire in an airplane
The NY Times reported that a plane crash in Egypt could have been caused by a fire that occurred on board. According to the automatic messaging system, a sharp increase in temperature occurred near the cockpit. It is not yet possible to establish the exact cause of the fire. Whether it was caused by a plane malfunction or the cause was a terrorist attack is unknown. Information was obtained from black boxes found. Experts were able to decipher the word "fire" in the data. The commission investigating the incident for a long time did not stop at any of the causes of the crash. Independent sources only became convinced that the attack occurred on board.
The wreckage of the plane. Egyptian crash victims
Periodically, the media received information about the detection of aircraft parts or belongings of passengers of a fallen liner. The first finds were made by the Egyptian side in the area where the last time the radars recorded the location of the Egyptian air vehicle. They found luggage, a seat, and part of a passenger’s body. A day earlier, a Greek television channel reported the discovery of aircraft parts and baggage items 80 km from the Greek resort islands.
Some time after the day the liner crashed over Egypt, signals from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea were recorded. They came from black boxes. As a result, the search area was significantly reduced, and the wreckage was soon found.
Investigation
An investigation into the crash of an aircraft in Egypt is being carried out by France and Egypt. The technical issues and the establishment of the causes of the tragedy are being investigated by the Prosecutor General's Office of France. The remains of the victims are examined and examined by the authorities of Egypt. The Greek side is also interested in establishing the causes of the incident. In connection with their desire to participate in the investigation, it was decided to include the representative of Greece in the commission of inquiry engaged in the restoration of events. He will have the right to inspect the scene of the incident, evidence, the bodies of the dead, as well as perform other actions.
After the main parts of the liner were discovered, the remnants began to be lifted by the army, as well as with the help and under the supervision of the commission of inquiry.
An underwater vehicle was sent to the plane crash area, which could significantly help in the search for the wreckage of the crashed plane in Egypt. A black box was also soon found. On June 16, 2016, a voice recorder was discovered, and the next day, a flight recorder.
Identification of the dead. Air crash victims in Egypt
To identify the bodies of the dead, relatives were asked to take DNA tests in order to conduct a medical examination. Material was collected in Cairo, in one of the hotels, located near the airport building. Here the Egyptian government was able to locate the native victims of the tragedy (plane crash in Egypt). The dead were recovered gradually and in parts. The identity of the victims can be determined solely from biological tests.
More than 80 fragments of the bodies of the dead were delivered to the capital of Egypt. Identification and examination of the remains. The study of finds is carried out by the Egyptian Prosecutor General.
Main version
As a result of the data obtained, one of the members of the investigation team claims that the version of the explosion that caused the plane crash in Egypt (we don’t provide photos of the dead for obvious reasons in the review) is currently the main one. Confirmation of this are quite small parts of the bodies. No large parts or fully preserved corpses were found.
No traces of explosives have yet been found, so the official reason for the crash of the aircraft in Egypt is not named.