Accident at Sharm-El-Sheik on 3 January 2004

After locating and recovering the FDR, the flight data recorder of the Boeing 737-300 that crashed into the sea off Sharm-El-Sheik on 3 January 2004, a new stage has been reached. The airplane’s second recorder, the CVR, was identified in the vicinity of the place where the first one was found and was brought to the surface during the night.

The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) records conversations and background noises and any alarms in the cockpit. The recorder is in bad external condition but this does not presuppose anything about the condition of the magnetic tape located inside the protective inner case. It was handed over to the President of the Egyptian Commission of Inquiry at the end of Sunday morning.

As with the FDR, the Commission of Inquiry plans to perform the readout in Cairo, in association with French and American investigators specialized in recorder readouts. This work may take several days, taking into account the possible difficulties in the readout and validation of data that are normally encountered in such cases.

Once again the combined efforts of all those participating in this significant phase of the technical investigation made the recovery of the recorder possible, in particular the French Navy and France Telecom. The BEA would like to express its thanks and its admiration to them for the work accomplished.

Annex 13 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation and French Law No. 99-243 of 29 March 1999 specify that the sole objective of the technical investigation is the prevention of future accidents or incidents. This activity is intended neither to apportion blame, nor to assess individual or collective responsibility.