Masks, Smoke, and Mirrors: The untold story of EgyptAir flight 804
EgyptAir flight 804 vanished in May 2016, leading to a contentious investigation. A 2024 report revealed new evidence but did not resolve the cause, highlighting challenges in aviation inquiries.
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EgyptAir flight 804, an Airbus A320, vanished from radar on May 19, 2016, while flying from Paris to Cairo, leading to the loss of all 66 passengers and crew. The investigation into the crash became contentious, with Egyptian and French authorities disagreeing on the cause—Egypt suggested a bomb, while French investigators leaned towards a cockpit fire. After years of silence, Egypt released a comprehensive 663-page report in October 2024, which included both its findings and a French report that presented a different narrative. The reports revealed new evidence, including alarming messages sent by the aircraft's communication system shortly before the crash, indicating smoke and multiple system failures. The investigation had been complicated by the political implications of the crash, reminiscent of a previous incident involving EgyptAir. The release of the reports has reignited discussions about the true cause of the disaster, which remains unresolved despite the new information. The article emphasizes the challenges faced in uncovering the truth and the potential for conflicting narratives in aviation investigations.
- EgyptAir flight 804 disappeared in May 2016, leading to a complex investigation.
- Disagreement between Egyptian and French authorities over the cause of the crash persisted for years.
- A 663-page report released in October 2024 provided new evidence but did not conclusively resolve the mystery.
- Alarming pre-crash messages indicated smoke and system failures on board the aircraft.
- The investigation highlights the difficulties in aviation accident inquiries, especially with political sensitivities involved.
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- Criticism of the investigation process, with some commenters suggesting bias and incompetence among Egyptian authorities.
- Discussion of the technical aspects of aviation safety, including the role of oxygen in fires and the effectiveness of fire extinguishers.
- References to other aviation incidents, highlighting a pattern of issues related to pilot behavior and safety culture.
- Concerns about the credibility of scientific practices in Egypt, suggesting a broader issue of trust in governmental institutions.
- Summaries of findings from the investigation, indicating a mechanical failure as a likely cause of the crash.
16 commentsI'd say, that EAAID had written the report in a way to make the coveraup unmistakable. I mean, the reasoning is not just bad, it contradicts to itself in a way, that to my mind one couldn't achieve without a deliberation. So it is possible that EAAID was forced to support the hypothesis but resisted it in the only way it could.
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.20.23286195v...
Maybe the attitude towards "truth vs. face" is similar in Egyptian governmental institutions.
Egypt in general is a low-trust society, scoring lower than India or Russia, though not much lower than usual in Africa.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/iab8r7/social_trus...
This indicates that lived experience of the Egyptians themselves, when it comes to trusting others, is somewhat bad.
"Even though passengers have been forbidden from smoking on airplanes for 25 years, the rules about smoking in the cockpit are less straightforward, and international regulations appear to invest the captain with the authority to decide whether smoking will be allowed or not."Sufficient concentrations of oxygen can cause even steel to burn: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_lance
There must be a reason they use pure oxygen, as regular compressed air, also breathable, would not have the same intense reactivity.
> Halon fire extinguishers are scheduled to be phased out of most commercial aircraft by the end of 2025.
Smoking had nothing to do with this incident. Their own testing showed that holding a cigarette in the oxygen stream was (surprisingly) not dangerous. The only risk from cigarettes they found was deliberately trying to light oxygen tubing with a cigarette.
And yet, despite a complete lack of both relevance and evidence, they included a recommendation to clamp down on pilot smoking. Anti-smoking is hysteria.
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