EgyptAir Flight 804: Traces of Explosives Found On Victims
Traces of explosives have been found on some of the victims of an EgytpAir flight from Paris that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in May, Egypt’s Civil Aviation Ministry said.
The statement said that a formal criminal investigation will now begin into the crash of Flight 804, which killed all 66 people on board and came just seven months after a Russian passenger plane was blown up over the Sinai Peninsula in an attack claimed by the Islamic Group.
While no one has claimed to have brought down Flight 804, investigators said smoke detectors went off during the plane’s final moments, before it crashed just before dawn as it approached Egypt’s northern coast.
Industry publication Aviation Herald reported that sensors detected smoke in the plane’s lavatory, as well as a fault in two of the plane’s cockpit windows in the final moments of the flight.
In recent months Egypt has spent millions of dollars trying to restore international confidence in its airport security measures. Russia had suspended all flights to Egypt, while Britain cancelled flights to Sharm El-Sheikh, a Red Sea Resort.