Think positive

EgyptAir Chairman Hussein Massoud prefers to think how Egyptian air transport benefited from the airline's disaster

---

"The accident is history now. When we remember the tragic aspect of it we should also review how we took positive steps for the benefit of the entire business in Egypt and over the world," Massoud said. "A crash of any airplane means the industry discovers a defect in the manufacturing or training of the crew and thus all industry partners work to sort out the problem and improve both the product and the working conditions. There are advantages to any accident, not for the victims perhaps, but for others who will not give up using airplanes as a vital means of transportation."

Massoud said many important lessons were learnt from the 1990 crash. "To possess our own tools, advanced on both the equipment and human resources level, has proved to be the most important lesson in my opinion. At the time of the accident, Egypt did not possess an advanced laboratory to analyse air transport accidents. It used to rely on European and American labs since such facilities did not appear to be important. That proved to be the wrong way of thinking and planning."

Massoud said the Egyptian government then moved to handle the shortage within air transport facilities. One of the procedures applied was to establish an advanced laboratory to analyse air transport accidents. "The final report of the 1999 crash was issued in 2002. By 2003, Egypt had set up its own laboratory operated by Egyptian experts."

The facility's first use came in January 2004 when a charter plane operated by Flash Airlines crashed into the Red Sea near Sharm El-Sheikh, killing all 187 passengers and crew onboard.

Egyptians took over the 2004 Sharm crash probe. The black boxes of the Boeing 737 were analysed by Egyptian experts using Egyptian laboratories. "American investigators attended the process according to the law, but there was no propaganda surrounding the final report, even though there were some disputes. This showed how Egyptians can handle the process when they possess their own tools."

"Analysing the black boxes [of Flight 990] was the most controversial part of the probe. It created a state of incredibility between the Egyptian people and the American team of investigators. Cultural differences between both sides added to the heat."

As for EgyptAir, Massoud said a wide ranging project to upgrade the ability of crises management teams has been drawn up within the national carrier's various branches. "In cooperation with the Aviation Ministry, EgyptAir has established a crises management centre where it has developed, in cooperation with international air transport bodies, a new mechanism to handle emergency situations. We have trained 500 of our employees to act as a team during crises according to international air transport regulations. In case of an emergency, several groups are to handle the media, passengers, families, authorities, etc. When the airline joined Star Alliance in 2008, it received assistance from the alliance management to upgrade and develop the existing mechanism."