French authorities have opened on Monday a manslaughter probe to determine the causes of the crash of an EgyptAir plane that killed 66 people. The Paris prosecutor’s office announced the inquiry is not a terrorism one but an accident investigation.
A spokeswoman for the attorney’s office, Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre, said on Monday that French authorities started an accident inquiry on EgyptAir aircraft A320 because they do not lean toward the theory that the plane was brought down deliberately.
Thibault-Lecuivre added that the probe was launched as an accident investigation; the inquiry is not pointing out to terrorism causes. However, the status of the investigation could change if there are evidence suggesting otherwise.
In turn, officials at the ministry of civil aviation in Egypt have not been notified yet about the French inquiry.
A spokesperson from the Egyptian agency said, “No evidence backs up or rules out any of the possible scenarios of what caused the crash, including whether it is a terrorist act or technical problems.”
A final report about the Paris-to-Cairo flight causes will be provided by the Egyptian investigation committee.
Data recorder successfully repaired
The Egyptian commission of inquiry announced late Monday that the two black box flight recorders from the EgyptAir aircraft were successfully repaired. These boxes were plunged into the Mediterranean sea, they were found last month and sent to fix. The damage they suffered during the crash did not allow Egyptian investigators to download any information contained in the boxes. It is possible that whatever is stored in the black boxes recorders might help to figure out the causes on why the plane went down.
The damage they suffered during the crash did not allow Egyptian investigators to download any information contained in the boxes. It is possible that whatever is stored in the black boxes recorders might help to figure out the causes on why the plane went down.
Once Egyptian search teams found the black boxes last month, they sent the recorders’ memory cards to Paris so that technicians at ‘Le Bureau d’Enquêtes et d’Analyses’ (BEA) could clean and repair the boxes to use them in the research of the plane’s accident.
EgyptAir Flight 804 crash
EgyptAir Flight 804 was an international passenger flight from Paris to Cairo. The flight was being operated by EgyptAir agency on May 19. The aircraft departed from Charles de Gaulle Airport bound for Cairo International Airport, and it was about 2.33 pm when it crashed into the Mediterranean sea.
A total of 66 people were on board: 56 passengers from twelve different countries (3 children included), seven aircrews (two pilots and 3 flight attendants), and three security personnel. Remains of the plane were found in the Mediterranean Sea. However, none of the passengers or aircrews of EgyptAir flight were found.
An Airbus A320 was involved in the incident. The flight 804 to Cairo was the fifth flight of the aircraft the day of the crash. Air traffic control did not register any mayday call from Airbus A320’s pilots. The plane disappeared from radar while flying from the north of the Egyptian coast at about 2.30 pm, three minutes later it slammed on the north of Alexandria. The aircraft was due to land at 3.05 at Cairo’s International Airport.
No terrorist group has taken so far the credit for the plane’s crash. The causes of the EgyptAir plane crash remain under investigation.
Source: NY Times