Egyptian plane crashes near sharm el-sheikh

[theavonlady 1]

It basically says that in October the same plane that crashed had made a routine flight to Kruunupyy (about 100 km from where I live) and some of the interviewed passengers say that they swore never to travel with that airline again.

It felt like the plane was going to fall apart, nothing worked, the captain was smoking in the cockpit and the smoke was directed into the passenger area through the ventilating system. Terrible, overall.

Thanks. I think Martin's DC3 is more sturdy.

[ozanzac 0]

From Boeings website:

Quote[/b] ]SEATTLE, Jan. 03, 2004 -- Boeing and its employees wish to extend its heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends and co-workers of those lost aboard the Flash Airlines 737, which crashed off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, Egypt early January 3.

A Boeing investigator is enroute to join the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to support the investigation being led by the Egyptian authorities.

The airplane, a Boeing 737-300, registry SU-ZCF, was delivered in October 1992 and had accumulated 25592 cycles and 17973 hours.

Selected info From Flash Airlines website:

Quote[/b] ]Flash Airlines is operating with two Boeing 737-300, both aircrafts manufactured in 1993, bearing the Egyptian registration SU - ZCD / S / N 26286 delivered in February 2000 & SU - ZCF / S/N 26283 delivered in June 2001.

Flash Airlines qualified pilots have a minimum of 5000 hours each, and long experience of flying domestically and internationally.

Flash Airlines qualified Engineers are certified by the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authorities to perform light maintenance up to 8A checks for our fleet.

Flash Airlines both aircrafts are insured for legal and third party liability and passenger, liability by El Shark Insurance Company for an amount of 550 Millions USD for each aircraft.

What does '8A checks' mean? It sounds as if their inhibited as to what parts of their aircraft they, themselves, can actually carry out maintainance for.

El Shark Insurance Company sounds like it doesn't exist at all, the name sounds just as dodgy as 'Flash Airlines' does.

[theavonlady 1]

El Shark Insurance Company sounds like it doesn't exist at all, the name sounds just as dodgy as 'Flash Airlines' does.

How ironic.

But they're listed by the Egyptian government.

[theavonlady 1]

An unknown Islamic terrorist group is claiming responsibility:

Quote[/b] ]Unknown Islamists claim Egyptian plane attack

Mon 5 January, 2004 15:19

CAIRO (Reuters) - An anonymous caller claiming to represent a previously unknown Islamic group says they brought down the Egyptian plane which crashed into the Red Sea on Saturday, killing 148 people.

The man told an international news agency in Cairo that the Yemen-based group Ansar al-Haq (Followers of the Truth) would also attack Air France planes unless the French government drops plans to ban Islamic headscarves from state schools.

There was no way to check the claim of the caller, who said he was an Egyptian member of the group.

The Egyptian government has ruled out a deliberate attack on the Boeing 737 charter plane, which crashed shortly after take-off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The dead included 133 French tourists.

[bn880 5]

I don't believe that, I can't see someone bringing down a 737 for something like that. But that's just me I guess...

[theavonlady 1]

I don't believe that, I can't see someone bringing down a 737 for something like that.  But that's just me I guess...

I'll second that. It even took them two days till they thought up the idea and picked up the phone.

[ralphwiggum 6]

you can bring dowm a jetliner, but by looking at how long it took to claim responsibility, i say it's most likely that it's a lie

[Acecombat 0]

An unknown Islamic terrorist group is claiming responsibility:

Quote[/b] ]Unknown Islamists claim Egyptian plane attack

Mon 5 January, 2004 15:19

CAIRO (Reuters) - An anonymous caller claiming to represent a previously unknown Islamic group says they brought down the Egyptian plane which crashed into the Red Sea on Saturday, killing 148 people.

The man told an international news agency in Cairo that the Yemen-based group Ansar al-Haq (Followers of the Truth) would also attack Air France planes unless the French government drops plans to ban Islamic headscarves from state schools.

There was no way to check the claim of the caller, who said he was an Egyptian member of the group.

The Egyptian government has ruled out a deliberate attack on the Boeing 737 charter plane, which crashed shortly after take-off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The dead included 133 French tourists.

Damn they're all just out there wanting a piece of the pie/glory arent they?

Just do a fake news of Statue of Liberty going down and evryone will be calling in saying they did it........

[Acecombat 0]

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (CNN) -- A robotic submarine from the French navy is scouring the waters of the Red Sea, looking for debris and bodies at the site of a weekend charter plane crash that killed 148 people.

CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/05/egypt.crash/index.html

Quote[/b] ]Most of the passengers were French tourists on their way home from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

Investigators were encouraged by the discovery of some debris at a much more shallow level -- 400 meters (1,312 feet) -- than previously thought. The plane went down very near an ancient fault line called the Syrian-African rift with depths at that location as deep as 1,000 meters (3,281 feet).

Divers can handle the more shallow depth, but the submarine would be necessary if any of the wreckage fell into the fault.

Through Sunday, recovery teams working off the coast of Sharm el-Sheikh had found dozens of body parts and were searching for more as well as for the flight data recorders, French Deputy Foreign Minister Renaud de Muselier said.

In addition to the submarine, France has sent several military airplanes and a military ship from Djibouti with personnel to help in the recovery efforts, he said. De Muselier was ferried to the recovery site, where he tossed flowers over the water to honor the victims.

The Flash Airlines plane had been slated to fly to Cairo and then on to Paris. The Boeing 737 crashed early Saturday a few minutes after takeoff.

The crash appeared to have resulted from a technical problem, and there was no indication of terrorist involvement, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq said.

In a news conference, Maher called the crash a "tragic accident."

But de Muselier did not rule out the possibility of "criminal activity."

"We have no objective reason to think it was a criminal act," he said. "We have technical and visual information from witnesses that make us think it was an accident. But now we have to find out why."

The jet's cockpit voice and data recorders have to be found for investigators to get a clearer picture, he said. French terrorism investigators said they were not planning to open an inquiry.

The French Foreign Ministry said the dead included 133 French nationals. Other relatives in France are expected to arrive in the Egyptian town later in the week on an aircraft provided by the French government.

Officials said the aircraft took off at 4:45 a.m. Saturday (9:45 p.m. Friday ET), climbed to 5,000 feet, turned left as planned and then changed course before plunging into the sea -- with no word from the pilot during the 17-second fall.

French Transport Secretary Dominique Bussereau said the plane apparently tried to turn back toward Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before it went down.

Egypt's Shafiq agreed. "Just two minutes or let us say three minutes after takeoff, we imagine that the pilot has discovered something which is abnormal in the control and the serviceability of the aircraft in general, he changed his plan maybe again trying to land again in the same airport," he said.

Witnesses said they heard a loud explosion, but officials said the body parts located so far have indicated the plane broke apart on impact with the water and not from an explosion.

Amr Aboulfath, chairman of the South Sinai Association for Diving, said the bulk of the wreckage settled at a depth of 800 to 1,000 meters (2,600 to 3,300 feet), too deep for scuba divers to reach.

France will cooperate with Egyptian authorities in the investigation into the cause of the crash and the French Ministry of Aviation will help transport bodies back to France and retrieve the remains of the plane, said Maher.

In Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board said that, at the request of the Egyptian government, it was sending a representative to assist in the investigation.

The Egyptian charter airline company is based in Cairo and operated two Boeing 737-300s, both made in 1993. It is part of Flash Group, which offers vacation packages across Egypt.

Each of its planes was insured for $550 million by El Shark Insurance Company, based in Egypt, it said.

Flash Airlines was banned from flying in Switzerland in 2002 over technical worries, the country's office of aviation said Sunday.

Celestine Perrisinotto, spokeswoman for the Federal Office for Civil Aviation, said "a series of shortcomings showed up" in a Flash Airlines plane during a check in October 2002.

"They didn't fill the international norms in matter of aviation safety," Perrisinotto told CNN. She said she could not describe the shortcomings but added, "What I can tell you is that we informed at that time the company about our decision, but we also informed the Egyptian authorities about our decision."

Egyptian officials were given a list of the shortcomings, and the airline did not seek to re-enter Switzerland, she said. The Swiss news agency Swissinfo quoted Perrisinotto saying that Flash never responded to the Swiss concerns, and she could not offer details of the problems Swiss authorities found.

In response, Egyptian civil aviation minister Ahmed Shafiq said the Swiss statement was inaccurate and baseless.

Shafiq said he wanted to see documents proving what the Swiss official said was true. And he said Egypt has documents stating that Flash Airline's planes were safe.

A man who answered the phone at Flash Airlines said no one from the company would have any comment before Monday.