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EgyptAir Black Box Data Confirms Fire, Smoke On Board

REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

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Ted Goodman Contributor
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Egypt’s investigating committee released a statement on the May 19 crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 that said the recorded data from one of the black boxes indicates that smoke and fire may have been present in the lavatory and avionics bay.

The committee said that, “the recorded data on the device is consistent with messages of the plane’s Acars (aircraft communications addressing and reporting) system that indicate smoke in its toilet and avionics room.”

The committee also said that there was signs of “high temperature damage” on the front section of the plane. The flight data recorders, also known as black boxes, were recovered from the bottom of the Mediterranean after a frantic search which lasted nearly a month.

While the new information corroborates previous evidence of smoke and fire on board the ill-fated flight, it does not offer conclusive evidence as to the cause of the crash. Initially, Egyptian authorities asserted that terrorism was likely to blame, but aviation experts caution that there is nothing to substantiate those claims. There are still questions on whether a nefarious act, or a mechanical malfunction brought down the plane.

The Cairo-bound flight which originated from Paris, “deviated” from its course while at 37,000 feet and turned to the left, and then rolled to the right completing a full circle. Investigators have not ruled out terrorism, but a human error or technical glitch is a possibility. Flight data that was available even before the black boxes were recovered, revealed that smoke detectors went off in the toilet and the aircraft’s electrics, minutes before the plane’s signal was lost.

The flight made three separate emergency landings in a 24-hour period leading up to its demise on May 19. 56 passengers and ten crew members perished on the flight, which was forced to land for technical checks and each time the alerts were investigated and the plane was cleared for take-off.

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Ted Goodman