Last Thursday, the world woke up to the sad news of another flight disappearance; EgyptAir Flight No. MS 804 had lost communication with the radar tracking system and gone missing in the early hours of the morning. By Friday, it was declared that the plane had crashed into the Mediterranean as its wreckage was found by Egyptian naval vessels 295 kilometres north of the coastal city of Alexandria.
Today Egyptian forensics told the Associated Press (AP) that the state of human remains retrieved from the crash site suggests an explosion on board led to the crash. Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the official, a member of Egypt’s investigative team said that all 80 pieces of remains brought to the Egyptian capital were minute. There isn’t even a whole body part, like an arm or a head,” he told AP, adding that the only logical explanation for that is an explosion.
This new finding seems to corroborate data reports of the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System, suggesting smoke alerts aboard flight MS 804 minutes before it crashed. According to the report, smoke was detected in the toilet and the aircraft’s electrics, and the alert went off just before the plane lost contact with the air traffic controllers. It also rules out the option of a technical or meteorological factor for the crash. Leaving the theories of a human or technical factor, and that a bomb may have been smuggled on board. Only this time, no terror group has made claims for an attack.
Still, that is the predominant theory given the new findings. Egypt’s aviation minister has even stated previously, that the flight’s disappearance was more likely to have been an act of terror than a technical glitch. All 66 people, including 30 Egyptians, 15 French nationals, and one Briton, aboard MS 804 were killed in the crash on Thursday. From the looks of things, it might take weeks, or months before the mystery of Flight MS 804 is resolved.
Last Saturday, Athanasios Binis, lead Air Accident Investigator from Greece said a real investigation can begin when the black boxes are retrieved. “The most important thing is that the plane’s two black boxes are found,” he said. There is currently an international air and naval effort in search of the black boxes and other bits of wreckage, with Egypt in the lead. France, the UK, Greece, America, and Turkey are also helping in the search.
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