Flight MS804: Plane did not swerve, say Egyptians
Egyptian officials are insisting Flight MS804 did not make sudden swerves before it plunged into the Mediterranean, in a major contradiction to earlier reports from the Greek Government.
Soon after the crash, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said that on entering Egyptian airspace the Airbus 320 had swerved 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees before it fell.
But in the latest bizarre twist in the mystery of what happened to the flight, the head of Egypt’s National Air Navigation Services Company, Mohi El-Din Azmi, told Egyptian state-run media Al-Ahram this was not the case.
Instead, he said the plane was at an altitude of 37,000 feet within the flight path and disappeared from radar, with no suddent swerves, less than a minute after entering Egyptian airspace.
The contradiction came as the families and friends of the French victims called for more French involvement in the investigation.
Stephane Gicquel, secretary general of the French National Federation of the Victims of Catastrophes, said relatives aren’t sure they can trust the Egyptian investigation, partly because of the way an investigation was handled into Flash Airlines Flight 604, which crashed into the Red Sea in 2004 carrying mostly French tourists.
The Egyptian Government and airline officials have promised the investigation into the EgyptAir crash will be transparent.
Egyptair is 100% owned by the Egyptian Government.
Meanwhile, the search for the flight’s back box voice and data recorders continue.
The recorders emit a signal in water pointing to their location, but only for four to five weeks until their power runs out.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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