Accident on 3 January 2004 at Sharm-El-Sheik (Egypt) to the Boeing 737-300 registered SU-ZCF operated by Flash Airlines

On 3 January 2004 at Sharm-El-Sheik, the airplane registered SU-ZCF, a Boeing 737-300 operated by Flash Airlines, crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff, causing the deaths of the 148 persons on board, including 134 French passengers. The BEA’s staff shares the national sense of grief and bewilderment on this immensely sad occasion and extends its sincerest sympathies to the members of the families concerned.

In accordance with Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, the BEA is participating, along with its American counterpart the NTSB, in the technical investigation that has been launched by the Egyptian civil aviation authorities to determine the circumstances and causes of this accident.

Five safety investigators from the BEA are currently at the accident site. The limited information available at this moment in time does not allow us to understand this event. The BEA recommends that great care be taken to avoid any attempt at premature interpretation.

Some items of information are available on this site and these will be updated regularly.