The Aviation Herald has reported that smoke was detected in the lavatory of the EgyptAir A320 Airbus shortly before it disappeared.
According to flight data cited in the report, the smoke was detected by the aircraft’s electronic systems at 00:26 (GMT), with an avionics smoke alert a minute later (at 00:27 GMT). The last message received from the aircraft was at 00:29.
The Aviation Herald stated that it acquired the flight data from independent channels of the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS). Although the possibility of a terrorist attack haven taken place has not been ruled out, French officials underline that the flight recorders (‘black boxes’) will help explain the smoke.
On Friday the Egyptian Army officials announced that they found debris from the missing aircraft about 290 kilometers north of Alexandria.
Earlier, the Greek Minister of National Defense Panos Kammenos explained that radars showed that while flying at an altitude of 37,000ft, the Airbus made a 90° turn to the left and began to plummet. The aircraft then made a 360° to the right, falling to 15,000ft, before disappearing off radar at 10,000ft.
Deutsche Welle: Fire broke out on board EgyptAir flight
A few hours later, Deutsche Welle reported that smoke and fire broke out on board EgyptAir plane minutes before the plane disapperead from radar.
“There was a fire on board,” aviation expert Tim van Beveren told DW. “The system sent very clear messages. There was lavatory smoke detected. A minute later, avionics compartment smoke detected…Two minutes later, the flight control units are failing,” he said adding that he had expected that Egyptian authorities could have received and published this information earlier.
It should also be noted that witnesses in Greece reported a flame in the sky. A Greek official told media that a captain on board a merchant ship about 130 nautical miles north of the island of Karpathos reported seeing a ‘flame in the sky’.
Data provided by Aviation Herald
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