Fire breakout due to Pilot lighting cigarette led to Egyptair plane crash in 2016: Report

Nearly six years after the crash of an EgyptAir flight, which resulted in the killing of at least 66 people on board, a new report found that a human error caused the fatal accident. Citing the report of France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), the New York Post reported that the ill-fated plane was brought down by the mistake of one of the pilots.

The report found the pilot lit a cigarette in the cockpit and ignited a fire, that killed all the passengers and crew members. As per the report, EgyptAir flight MS804 took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport for Cairo International Airport on May 19, 2016.

When the flight (Airbus A320) was running at its maximum speed, the report said that pilot Mohamed Said Shoukair lit a cigarette mid-air, resulting in the breakout of the fire. As per BEA's report, oxygen had leaked from a pilot’s oxygen mask in the cockpit shortly before the crash.

As a result, the flight fell out of the sky between the Greek island of Crete and northern Egypt. The oxygen mask had been replaced just three days before the fateful flight, by an EgyptAir maintenance worker, but for an unknown reason, it had its release valve set to the “emergency position,” which, according to the Airbus safety manual, could lead to leaks, reported NYP.

Black box was found two years after the plane crash

According to the airlines, at least 56 passengers and 10 crew members were on board when the deadly mishap occurred. It is worth mentioning that when the accident happened, smoking in the cockpit was allowed. However, the airlines barred the pilot from smoking after the accident killed 56 people.

Initially, Egyptian authorities claimed a terrorist attack behind the fatal accident. The authorities said that the traces of explosives had been found on the bodies of the victims. However, the claims were not echoed by the investigators. Moreover, no terrorist organisation had taken responsibility for the attack.

In 2018, the Egyptian government also refused to release its own investigation report and also rejected the BEA’s initial findings. It claimed no such evidence was found in the recordings of the black box - which was recovered from deep water near Greece by the US Navy nearly two years after the accident. 

Image: @EGYPTAIR/Twitter