‘No evidence’ to link Paris EgyptAir plane crash to terrorism
Authorities are 'not at all' favouring theory that the Airbus A320 disaster killing 66 people was brought down deliberately
THE PARIS prosecutor has opened a manslaughter investigation into last month’s EgyptAir plane crash – saying there is “no evidence” to link the incident to terrorism.
A spokeswoman told the Associated Press that authorities were “not at all” favouring the theory that the Airbus A320 was brought down deliberately.
The decision to open the investigation was based on evidence gathered so far, she said - without elaborating.
Flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo crashed in the Mediterranean on May 19, killing all 66 people on board.
Earlier on Monday, Egyptian investigators said the damaged memory chips from the plane's cockpit voice and data recorders had been flown to France.
Technicians at France's BEA air accident investigations agency will attempt to clean and repair them, and then send them back to Egypt for analysis.
The flight recorders were recovered from the plane's wreckage, about 290km (180 miles) north of the Egyptian coast and at a depth of about 3,000m (9,800ft).
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Automated electronic messages sent by the plane revealed that smoke detectors went off in a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit, minutes before the plane's signal was lost.
Radar data shows the plane turned 90 degrees left and then 360 degrees to the right, dropping from 11,300m (37,000ft) to 4,600m (15,000ft) and then 3,000m (10,000ft) before it disappeared.
The cause of the crash remains unclear.
Egyptian officials had, however, suggested the most likely cause was terrorism, before backing off those remarks and saying no theories had emerged.