May 19, 2016, 12:11 am
Last edit by: NewbieRunner
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An EgyptAir Airbus A320, registration SU-GCC from Paris Charles de Gaulle (flight MS804 departing 18 May) to Cairo with 56 passengers, 2 flight crew, 5 cabin crew and 3 security personnel, lost contact over the Mediterranan Sea about 280km (151nm) from the Coast of Egypt at 02:30 local time (00:30 UTC) on 19 May 2016. Greece's Civil Aviation Authority reported radar contact with the aircraft was lost about 2 minutes after the aircraft was handed off from Greek to Egyptian Air Traffic Control.
At 12:30 CEST (10:30 UTC) 19 May 2016 France's President Hollande announced that the aircraft has crashed while flying over the Mediterranean Sea in Egyptian Airspace.
At 19:00 local time (17:00 UTC) 19 May 2016 EgyptAir posted on their Facebook page that wreckage of the missing aircraft was found near Karpathos Island. This was later denied by the head of the Greek air safety authority. EgyptAir's VP subsequently retracted the statement that debris of the aircraft had been found and said they were mistaken.
On the morning of 20 May 2016 The Egyptian Armed Forces informed EgyptAir that they have found first debris from the missing aircraft operating flight MS804 around 295 KM from the Egyptian coastline.
On 20 May 2016 The Aviation Herald published ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) messages which suggested there was smoke in a lavatory followed by smoke in the avionics bay.
On 22 May 2016 Egypt's President confirmed that the Petroleum Ministry has provided a submarine that could reach 3,000 meters under water in an attempt to retrieve the two black boxes.
On 23 May 2016 the French BEA and Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority, in response to media reports of an emergency call on Egypt's frequency, stated that no such communication has been received on any frequency.
On 1st Jun 2016 Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority reported that the French vessel "Laplace" has located pings presumed to originate from one of two black boxes. The French BEA confirmed that Egyptian Authorities have confirmed a "signal that may come from one of the recorders" of flight MS-804.
On 16 Jun 2016 the vessel "John Lethbridge" managed to retrieve the cockpit voice recorder in several stages as the CVR had been damaged.
On 17 June 2016 the vessel "John Lethbridge" managed to recover the memory module of the second black box, the flight data recorder.
List of nationalities of passengers on Board:
30 Egyptian
15 French
2 Iraqi
1 British (dual nationality with Australia as confirmed by AU government)
1 Belgian
1 Kuwaiti
1 Saudi
1 Sudanese
1 Chadian
1 Portuguese
1 Algerian
1 Canadian
+ 10 crew of unknown nationality.
Useful, reliable links:
Aviation Herald (Avherald) article on MS804
BBC article on MS804
MODERATOR NOTE
If you are posting media reports please summarize or quote a sentence or two and link to the source whenever possible.
When discussing this tragedy please bear in mind that these matters are always personal and should be treated with respect. Family members and other affected parties may be following this thread.
Moderation of this thread will be strictly "to rules". Moreover, because of how quickly this thread is moving, it is simply not possible to contact each individual poster whose post may be deleted or edited. We ask for your patience and understanding, and thank you for your cooperation.
For those who are eligible there is a thread in OMNI/PR if anyone wishes to speculate possible links with any terrorist group or discuss politics.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/omni-...s-missing.html
Moderator team for this thread: obscure2k, armagebedar, NewbieRunner
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EgyptAir MS 804 on 5/19/16, Paris to Cairo, Missing
Jul 5, 2016, 6:02 pm
#241
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It wouldn't be hard to start a fire, but the crew and passengers would smell the smoke very quickly. They have fire retardants, and many passengers would likely join the fight, which might include subduing the perpetrator(s).
It's a risk and a plausible cause for this crash, but I suspect a deliberately-set fire is not the cause.
It's a risk and a plausible cause for this crash, but I suspect a deliberately-set fire is not the cause.
Jul 5, 2016, 6:08 pm
#242
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Jul 5, 2016, 10:48 pm
#243
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And this flight is still a mystery, and I for one would hope is solved.
Jul 6, 2016, 10:49 am
#244
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The 2002 CJ flight is indeed an example of arson bringing down a plane. Even with the liquids restrictions we have today, it is plausible that someone could have ignited a fire on EgyptAir 804. An electrical fire also seems very plausible.
Jul 6, 2016, 10:56 am
#245
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One thing that cuts against arson as an explanation is that we haven't seen any reports indicating concern about any particular passenger or crew member being a terrorist or suicidal. Investigators must have looked very closely at the personal histories of everyone on board. Maybe they missed such evidence, or have kept such evidence secret.
Jul 6, 2016, 11:50 am
#246
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No doubt. With a fuel source, one could get a pretty big fire going before the crew would react. That might indeed turn out to be the cause here.
One thing that cuts against arson as an explanation is that we haven't seen any reports indicating concern about any particular passenger or crew member being a terrorist or suicidal. Investigators must have looked very closely at the personal histories of everyone on board. Maybe they missed such evidence, or have kept such evidence secret.
One thing that cuts against arson as an explanation is that we haven't seen any reports indicating concern about any particular passenger or crew member being a terrorist or suicidal. Investigators must have looked very closely at the personal histories of everyone on board. Maybe they missed such evidence, or have kept such evidence secret.
Jul 6, 2016, 1:07 pm
#247
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If the flight had been, say, from Tokyo to Singapore, then an accidental fire would look much more likely than an intentional one.
Jul 6, 2016, 1:34 pm
#248
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Jul 16, 2016, 7:22 pm
#249
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Jul 16, 2016, 8:04 pm
#250
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Jul 24, 2016, 3:36 pm
#251
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I have a hard time understanding how apparently only a few minutes elapsed between when the crew became aware of a fire, and when the plane crashed. I understand that a fire on an aircraft is extremely dangerous, but I'm surprised that it could bring down the plan so quickly.
Jul 24, 2016, 5:22 pm
#252
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And so far we only know how long they knew about the fire, not how long it burned.
Jul 24, 2016, 10:35 pm
#253
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Good point. We're all just guessing, but you implicitly hold open the possibility that the fire burned for much time before the crew learned of it.
Jul 25, 2016, 12:40 pm
#254
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I would never need liquids for taking down a jetliner, if I'd be a moron stupid enough to plan such a thing.
The whole liquid ban is pretty irrelevant and mainly causes huge irritation for a HBO traveller like me. In the case of MS804, a lavatory fire can be caused on purpose with matches (remember: they must be carry-on luggage and they're allowed) and/or an electric spark. Live current can be easily found in a lavatory (e.g. shaver socket), so causing an electrical fire isn't all too hard for the madman.
The whole fact that matches are still today allowed, makes the whole farse with liquid restrictions irrelevant for real safety.
I seriously hope this was a sad case due to MS neglect. Otherwise we're in for more changes at all airports, if it turns out to be due terror.
The whole liquid ban is pretty irrelevant and mainly causes huge irritation for a HBO traveller like me. In the case of MS804, a lavatory fire can be caused on purpose with matches (remember: they must be carry-on luggage and they're allowed) and/or an electric spark. Live current can be easily found in a lavatory (e.g. shaver socket), so causing an electrical fire isn't all too hard for the madman.
The whole fact that matches are still today allowed, makes the whole farse with liquid restrictions irrelevant for real safety.
I seriously hope this was a sad case due to MS neglect. Otherwise we're in for more changes at all airports, if it turns out to be due terror.
Jul 25, 2016, 1:00 pm
#255
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Of course, it could be due to neither neglect nor terrorism, but until such time as the investigation is complete we will only have the occasional update from the investigation committee & leaks, which will be of more or less value; viz, the claim that the state of the recovered human remains indicated an explosion.