Accident at Sharm-El-Sheik on 3 January 2004

Today, 3 March, two months have passed since the aviation disaster at Sharm-El-Sheik. The BEA reiterates its unerring commitment to the cause of aviation safety.

It was in this context that the BEA was invited by the Egyptian authorities to participate in the investigation that they are leading, in accordance with international agreements. The American NTSB is also participating in the investigation, the airplane being a Boeing.

The work of the investigation is continuing normally, as rapidly as possible. After the sea searches and the readout of the on-board recorders, it is possible to describe what happened:

The airplane, after a normal takeoff, began a turn to the left, which corresponds to the normal track. Towards 600 meters altitude, the turn was slowly inverted to the right and the airplane’s roll attitude increased progressively until it was on its side towards 1,700 meters. It then began to lose altitude rapidly until it crashed violently into the sea. The crew maintained a professional attitude throughout, aware that there was an abnormal situation and trying to control it.

The work carried out has made it possible to draw some initial conclusions. It was thus possible to eliminate any in-flight rupture of a part of the airplane’s structure and any malfunction in the airplane’s engines or rudder, as well as any malicious or terrorist act. Nothing in the dossiers relating to the crew, the preparation of the flight or the maintenance of the airplane has been brought to light that explains the accident.

However, these elements do not yet allow the accident sequence to be understood and explained. The investigators are working hard on this but, at present, any extrapolation of the facts described would be mere speculation. In this context, the idea that the crew thought that they were on autopilot is without any basis in fact.

The investigative work is continuing. The President of the Egyptian Commission of Inquiry, Mr. Kelada, has organized new work meetings, currently taking place in Cairo, to examine the calculations and analyses that have been carried out over the last few weeks. It is possible that these meetings may be extended by work in common on flight simulators.