Investigation logjam frustrates French investigators

The investigation into the crash of an EgyptAir A320 two years ago has been logjammed by the Egyptian investigators after they declared that traces of explosives were detected. French investigators have openly criticized the Egyptian government over the investigation. French investigators determined that a fire began in the cockpit, and rapidly grew out of control, causing the loss of the aircraft. Shortly after the French announced their findings, the Egyptian investigators announced that they found traces of explosives from somewhere in the cabin. As a result, the safety investigation was halted and turned over to Egyptian criminal and legal authorities, where it's stalled.

The BEA met with the Egyptian attorney general in May, where the Egyptians maintained that they are responsible for the investigation and were continuing on their theory that the aircraft was sabotaged. This isn't the first time that Egypt has clashed with investigators. In 2004, a Flash Airlines 737 crashed. The BEA and NTSB both pointed to spatial disorientation on the part of the crew. Egyptian investigators maintained that there was a mechanical problem with the aircraft that led to the crash.

In 1999, NTSB investigators determined that the first officer of an EgyptAir 767 deliberately crashed a 767 off the US East Coast. Egyptian investigators insisted that there was something wrong with the elevator system of the aircraft, going so far as to suggest it may have been a design flaw in the system.

www.flightglobal.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

If you think the Egyptians investigators are slow.........just imagine how slow the Libyan investigators are.

a reply to: Zaphod58

If French are right, sounds similar to SWISSAIR 111, which crashed into ocean off Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1998

Accident was later traced to electrical short in wiring for IFEN (In Flight Entertainment Network) which arced and set fire
to insulation above cockpit

en.wikipedia.org...

Would not be first time Egyptians clashed with findings of accident investigation

a reply to: firerescue

It's believed that the copilot plugged in his iPad or iPod to one of the cockpit outlets and it went into a runaway condition, starting the fire.

a reply to: TonyS

They're not slow, they simply refuse to accept when it's human error by one of their people.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Was it like those incidents where lithium battery gets overcharged and explodes ?

a reply to: firerescue

IIRC the cockpit plugs aren't designed for plugging in devices like those, and they can suffer thermal runaway. It's similar to that, yes.

This reminds of the two US pilots headed for Minneapolis who had their laptops on and overflew their destination by one half hour. My best,