EgyptAir A320 Reported Technical Problems Prior to Crash
Joe Cortez June 02, 2016
Data obtained by French media claims aircraft returned to their origin for technical problems.
Two French media outlets claim the Airbus A320 operating EgyptAir Flight 804 sent several technical error messages throughout their final day of flight before mysteriously dropping off radar and crashing into the Mediterranean Sea. Business Insider reports the aircraft transmitted several warnings via ACARS, which required a technical check with each stop.
Both French television broadcaster France 3 and newspaper Le Parisien claim the 12-year-old aircraft broadcast a number of technical warnings during their flights between Egypt, Eritrea, France and Tunisia on May 19. In every case, the media outlets claim the warnings included smoke emissions in the cabin. While France 3 previously reported the aircraft made multiple emergency landings, that claim was later retracted.
The new information has not been confirmed by Egyptian authorities, but could be supported by flight records. According to FlightAware, the aircraft maintained an on-time schedule up until their flight between Tunis and Cairo, when the aircraft was delayed for nearly a half-hour. The flight was delayed again for nearly the same amount of time departing from Cairo to Paris and on the return. During their stop at Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG), Ahram Online reported the aircraft was given a clean technical report prior to their final takeoff.
In addition, officials for EgyptAir are denying the reports completely. When asked at the annual IATA meeting, airline executives claimed everything aboard the aircraft was “normal,” with no maintenance issues.
“For me it is not true,” Safwat Musallam, chairman of EgyptAir, told Reuters. “We fully trust the aircraft and pilot.”
MS804 crashed on May 19, killing all 66 people aboard the aircraft. Although the main wreckage has not been found, search teams believe they have found signals coming from the aircraft data recorder.
[Photo: Wikipedia]
Apparently, French members of the investigation team, from the BEA, are also stating that this information is incorrect, although I've yet to find a source for this statement. It should be noted that, whilst being given wide coverage yesterday, 02/06/2016, the story has vanished from most reputable UK news sites & isn't even being reported on the MSN news feed today