Mystery of EgyptAir 804 must be solved

On May 19, 2016, EgyptAir flight 804 departed Paris for Cairo. It crashed about 120 miles north of the Egyptian coast. Flight 804 was an Airbus A320 jet, one of the world’s most widely used commercial airplanes, with a very good safety record. What would bring such an airline workhorse down?

All of the 66 people on board were killed. Egyptian authorities (the Central Directorate of Aircraft Accident Investigation) began an investigation. Wreckage was located and the crucial voice and data recorders recovered. The information necessary to find the cause was in the hands of investigators. Sadly, Egyptian investigators would not follow the international protocol of accident investigation (ICAO Annex 13) and produce a report.

In December 2016, Egyptian officials reported traces of explosives but provided no proof. The explosion theory is not consistent with what limited evidence is available. The plane sends messages of a fire (verified by the data recorder), the crew is recorded talking about a fire on board, and there is soot on some of the wreckage. There’s no doubt there was a fire onboard.

In July 2018, French aviation investigative agency BEA released an announcement that they believed, based on the evidence, that there was a fire onboard 804, not an explosion. The BEA is to be commended for publicly releasing this announcement.

The suspension or cancellation of the Egyptian investigation does a disservice to aviation safety. The unproven theory of an explosion is not consistent with evidence. Egyptian officials should produce a formal report and let the world know what happened to the 66 people flying in one of the world’s most widely used airplanes.

John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.