IPHONE ‘LINK’ TO JET CRASH
Plane fire killed 66
A PILOT’S iPhone may have started the fire which brought down EgyptAir flight MS804, it has been claimed.
All 66 people on board the Airbus A320 died when it crashed into the Mediterranean last May.
The disaster happened after a blaze broke out in the cockpit on the flight from Paris to Cairo.
French investigators are working on a theory that the fire may have been sparked by electronics.
It comes after co-pilot and First Officer Mohamed Mamdouh Assem was seen on CCTV placing his iPhone 6S, iPad and four bottles of cologne on the dashboard.
French newspaper Le Parisien reported that lithium-ion batteries used in mobile devices could have sparked the flames.
But iPhone maker Apple said there was no evidence to link its products with the crash and investigators had not contacted the company as part of the probe.
Airline regulations state that crew’s personal belongings must be stored away before take-off.
But the co-pilot on MS804 was seen on security tapes putting the items on his side of the dashboard.
Le Parisien stated that alarms signalled that the fire started on the co-pilot’s side of the cockpit.
Just minutes before the crash, an automatic warning signalled a fault with the plane’s electrical wiring. It disappeared from radar three hours and 25 minutes into the flight while cruising at 37,000ft. Wreckage was found the next day.
A fire on board was blamed for the crash after the black box was recovered from the sea.
The pilot was recorded telling the co-pilot to tackle the blaze, investigators found. Smoke alerts were also sounded in the toilets and below the cockpit floor.
Apple said its products met all safety standards.
A spokesman said: “We haven’t been contacted by any authority investigating this tragic event. We have not seen the report but we understand there is no evidence to link this event to Apple products.”