16 - 22 May 2002
Issue No.586
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 16 - 22 May 2002 Issue No.586 |
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Probable cause
Egypt and Tunisia are drawing on French expertise in investigating the cause of the EgyptAir crash that killed 14 people in Tunis last week. Amira Ibrahim reports
Egypt dispatched a team of aviation experts and officials to Paris on Monday to join the Tunisian team investigating the causes of the tragic 7 May crash of an EgyptAir Boeing 737 in Tunisia.
Although international law stipulates that the investigations be led by the country where the crash took place, the process of analysing both the data and voice recorders from the plane are taking place in French aviation laboratories. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly just before his departure for Paris, Shaker Kilada, head of the EgyptAir delegation, explained that the Tunisian aviation authorities are working within the mandate set by previous agreements with their French counterparts, allowing the latter to conduct accident investigations on the Tunisians' behalf.
"We offered to do the analysis in Egyptian laboratories but the Tunisians are committed to previous agreements in this regard," Kilada said. "It is alright for us to go to Paris. We agree that they have the latest technology and are optimistic the French will act as an unbiased body."
Kilada added that an American team from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is also participating in the investigation, but only as observers. The Americans "can attend the [investigation] process in compliance with the Chicago convention," said Kilada, "but they neither have any control nor authorisation to direct it."
In an apparent reference to the NTSB's investigations into EgyptAir Flight 990, which plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off the US coast in October 1999, killing all 217 people on board, Kelada said, "That will not happen again." In that still-disputed case, the NTSB concluded in March that actions by the co-pilot had probably caused the crash, but investigators could not determine a motive. Egyptian authorities refused to accept this finding, and said mechanical problems were to blame.
Kilada, who also led the Egyptian team investigating the Flight 990 disaster, was with the team of aviation officials from both EgyptAir and the Civil Aviation ministry who arrived in Tunis just a few hours after the 7 May crash. EgyptAir chairman Fahim Rayan headed the team as it examined the wreckage and made arrangements to bring home the injured and the dead.
Investigators are trying to understand how the plane slammed into a hill, but did not explode. "We want to find out if the heavy rains prevented the explosion," Kilada said. Fourteen of the 62 people on board the Boeing died when it plunged into Sidi Nahli hill just six kilometres away from Tunis-Carthage airport in the midst of wet and foggy weather.
Investigators want to know why the pilot was flying at such low altitudes over such a mountainous area. "It was clear the plane hit the hill while preparing for a normal landing," explained Kilada. "It was certainly not supposed to be flying at such a height."
Investigators are also trying to discover whether a mechanical failure may have played a part in the crash, even though the pilot did not report any such failure. Tunisian civil aviation officials said that the airport control tower had cleared the EgyptAir flight for landing, but then lost radio and radar contact with the aircraft.
Other Tunisian aviation officials said the plane's landing gear had failed to open. A Tunis airport official opined that, "When the pilot found it difficult to use the landing gear, he made a half circle before the plane disappeared off the radar screens." The official had also initially indicated that the pilot had sent a signal asking for help.
EgyptAir officials rejected claims made by some witnesses that the pilot may have emptied the plane's fuel tanks or flown in circles to use up fuel to prevent an explosion and save lives. "It is not true that the pilot emptied the fuel tanks," Rayan said. "The plane contained 12 tonnes of fuel, eight of which were used during the trip from Cairo to Tunis. The remaining four tonnes were not used," the company's chairman said.
For now, Egyptian aviation officials seem to think that the rough weather conditions -- which included heavy fog, rain and strong winds -- may be the main cause of the crash.
For his part, Aviation Minister Ahmed Shafiq proffered two possible explanations: "Either the plane had a mechanical problem, or the pilot could not deal with the turbulence in the weather," he told reporters two days after the crash. However, Shafiq added, he was certain that a professional pilot would be capable of dealing with unstable weather conditions.
The minister's comments seemed to be a message directed at the national carrier whose performance has been the frequent subject of criticism by local media.
EgyptAir officials declined to comment, except to re-emphasise that the pilot was a professional with ten years of experience who had been promoted to fly the Boeing 737-500 six months ago.
"The pilot flew more than 4000 flight hours and had landed in that very airport several times before," Rayan said, refusing further speculation over the cause of the crash and stressing that investigations were just beginning.
On 9 May, the scene at Cairo Airport's gate 35, which had been set aside for the families of the victims, was devastating. Ambulances had been waiting near the runway to take 19 of the injured to the nearby EgyptAir hospital. Three other injured Egyptians had stayed on in Tunisia to undergo medical treatment.
The bodies of seven of the victims also arrived at Cairo Airport that day.
At the airport, Rayan announced that families of the victims would receive their insurance compensation immediately upon presenting the required legal documents. Families of the victims are due to receive about $150,000 in insurance.
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