Crash charter company “had been banned”

The Egyptian charter airline whose plane crashed into the Red Sea on Saturday has already been banned from flying in Switzerland because of safety concerns, it has been claimed. Flash Airlines flight FSH604 crashed shortly after taking off from the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh en route to Paris, killing all 148 people on board. According to a report in The Guardian newspaper, the airline was banned from operating in Swiss airspace in October 2002 after a spot check revealed safety problems. A spokeswoman for the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Aviation reportedly told the newspaper: “During a routine inspection at Zurich we discovered the airline was a danger to airline security. It concerned violations of the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organisation.” The spokeswoman said the carrier had not since done enough for the ban to be lifted.” When contacted by the newspaper, the Egyptian aviation minister reportedly said the accusations were baseless, while Flash’s chief pilot said the planes were very well maintained.” Investigations are still ongoing into the cause of Saturday’s crash; terrorism has not been ruled out but French authorities are reportedly insisting that the cause was “technical”.