Autopilot leak clouds investigation
Amira Ibrahim reports on reactions to the latest theory regarding the charter plane crash earlier this year
Was a human error behind the 3 January charter plane crash in Sharm El-Sheikh? The French paper Le Figaro suggested just that in a recent report claiming the airline's crew thought it had switched on the automatic pilot, but really hadn't.
The Flash airlines jet went down shortly after take-off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh. It was heading for Paris via Cairo with 134 French holidaymakers on board. With the crew and the remaining passengers from other nationalities, a total of 148 people died in the crash.
Egyptian civil aviation authorities rejected the French press reports, describing them as "speculation without evidence". Samir Abdel- Ma'boud, who heads the Aviation Ministry's air transport department supervising the probe, said the switching on and off of the autopilot was an ordinary procedure, "and does not lead to dangerous consequences". Abdel- Ma'boud, a former air force pilot, said, "it happens at an average of every other trip. Sometimes it could happen more than once during one trip without threatening the flight's safety."
He said investigators were aware of the specifics of the case; they just think they can be explained in many other ways. Egypt is leading the investigation, which is currently analysing data from the plane's two black boxes. Since the majority of the victims were French, a French team is also participating, as are teams from the US National Transport Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) since the plane's manufacturer, Boeing, is American.
Shaker Kilada, head of the investigation team, said the pilot realised something was wrong while the plane was turning after take- off. "The pilot commented on an anomaly shortly after the autopilot was briefly engaged for about four seconds," Kilada told an Aviation Ministry press conference.
The French paper had claimed that the "pilots had probably never identified the fault. Until the end the two pilots thought they could bring the situation back under control. There were no cries of despair or even surprise in the cockpit. Just before the plane hit the water, they tried a last ditch manoeuvre, but the aircraft was too low."
Kilada said investigators were focusing on 32 seconds of a flight which lasted a mere three minutes before plunging into the sea: "starting from the second the autopilot was engaged till the plane plunged into the water," he said.
"While the autopilot was on, we hear the pilot saying he had spotted something wrong. After the autopilot was disengaged, the co- pilot says the plane is not responding, as it should." Kilada said the pilot then asked the co-pilot, "Do you see the way it's going?" referring to the plane's rightward lean. "It's turning right, it's turning right," both the pilot and co-pilot say, and then the jet crashes.
The autopilot, Kilada said, was engaged at 2,500 feet, safely above the 1,500 feet minimum. Everything else about the flight thus far had also been normal. "The take-off process was successful," Kilada told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The aircraft turned left at 80-90 degrees from the runway, since it was heading to Cairo on its way to Paris. The pilot then widened the turn as the plane climbed into the sky, which is also normal." The anomaly only occurred after the autopilot was disengaged. "The plane rose to 5,300 feet and then it started to turn right and went down."
Human error has not been ruled out as a possible cause, Kilada said. "The pilot might have done something wrong and was not aware of it. Or possibly the devices -- the autopilot or anything else -- were misleading him. Perhaps the plane did not perform as expected."
In that regard, 15 questions concerning the 737 jet itself have been proffered to Boeing. "We expect to receive a report from Boeing within the coming few weeks," Kilada said.
The investigation details that appeared in the French media, meanwhile, had opened up a separate dilemma. The fact that the report was allegedly based on the 737's black boxes was a matter of serious concern for Egyptian aviation officials, as well as in diplomatic and political circles wary of potential dents in Egyptian-French relations.
Even though the black boxes had been taken to laboratories in France and the US for further tests requested by the teams from those two countries, the probe, Kilada said, remained "absolutely under Egyptian control. Both French and American investigators work in cooperation with the authorised Egyptian investigation team."
Kilada chose not to speculate on the source of the French press leaks, but did say, "we are authorised to bar any investigator involved in a leak, as this would represent a violation of international law."
France's Accident Investigations Bureau (BEA) also rejected the media reports, saying the official enquiry in Egypt had yet to be concluded. As the speculation generated more controversy, the BEA released a statement refuting the autopilot theory. "The assertion that the crew thought the plane was switched on to autopilot is completely without foundation. The investigation has not yet made it possible to understand and explain the accident sequence. The investigators are working on it, but as things stand, any interpretation... would be pure speculation."
