The latest official report on last January's fatal Flash airlines crash did not reveal much, reports Amira Ibrahim Last Thursday, civil aviation authorities made public a report that presented no conclusive answers as to why Flash Air Flight 604 plummeted into the sea off the Sharm El-Sheikh coast on 3 January. While the report provided factual information on the investigation into the cause of the crash, it made no conclusions. Shaker Kilada, who heads the investigation team that released the 431- page report, said, "we will continue to work with French and American officials to find the truth." At a press conference at the Civil Aviation Ministry, American and French officials expressed their satisfaction with the Egyptian investigators' performance. All sides had agreed on two things: to condemn leaks; and highlight the need for cooperation to arrive at the truth. "Any speculation from the media affects the investigation because it feeds people with ideas that are groundless. Now the document is open, and everyone can read and know what happened. But it is too early to discover why it happened," said a French official. The French press has been reporting the theory that the crew could not deal with the emergency situation that arose when the plane's autopilot did not work. According to Kilada, "there is nothing on the cockpit voice recorder [CVR] or the flight data recorder [FDR] to support such assumptions." The transcript, he said, was prepared by a team of experts from all sides and approved by all participants, including the French and American investigators. Samir Abdel-Ma'boud of the Civil Aviation Ministry explained that groups of experts were formed to collect the factual information to determine and analyse the motion of the aircraft and the physical forces that produced that motion. "In particular, the group worked to define the aircraft position and orientation throughout the flight, and determine its response to control inputs, system failures, external disturbances, or other factors that could affect its trajectory." Abdel-Ma'boud said the data used to obtain this information included: wreckage location and condition; radar data; CVR and FDR information; weather information; weight and balance data; and tests and research. The flight, a Boeing 737-300, crashed into the Red Sea at 4:45:06 local time, shortly after takeoff from Sharm El- Sheikh International Airport in South Sinai, Egypt. The problems began two minutes after takeoff. At 4:44:05, the crew turned on the autopilot, which only worked for three seconds before it was disconnected. Starting then, the FDR recorded a series of motions that revealed a right banking and subsequent right turn. For a few seconds, it seemed both pilots could not understand why the plane suddenly started to turn right. The captain tried to turn the autopilot on again but it did not respond. The captain said, "See what the aircraft did?" "Turning right, sir", said the co-pilot. Three seconds later, the captain responded "What -- how turning right?" As the bank angle continued to increase, the airplane reached its highest altitude of 5,460 feet. The captain ordered the autopilot turned on, and the co-pilot responded positively, but no autopilot engagement was recorded on the FDR. Several attempts by the crew to turn on the autopilot ended in failure. The crew attempted to retard power in order to retain control over the plane, and both engine throttles were moved to idle. The FDR records the airspeed as 360 knots as recovery from severe right banking and nose down pitch continued. The last words on the CVR were those of the co-pilot reciting his last prayer, with only half of the prayers audible on the recording. "The airplane was destroyed due to impact forces with the Red Sea, with no survivals," the report concluded At the press conference, the investigation team was hammered by questions about the crew's performance and the Boeing 737's mechanical failures, with a particular emphasis on autopilot problems. "The crew took all procedures as they should have. Every single move was studied very well, and no procedure was missed," Kilada replied to a question. "I should also add that the captain is an ex- air force pilot, with a professional record as a commercial pilot showing he conducted more than 20,000 hours of flying MiG 21s, and 4,500 hours flying C-130s, a military transport plane that is similar to passenger planes. [He was also the top student amongst his] colleagues during a Boeing 737 training course." Kilada said the investigation team, "together with French and Boeing officials, examined more than 50 scenarios for the crash at the Boeing laboratories in Seattle. Those examinations guided us through many possible alternatives to solve the riddle of the crash." The draft for the final report is to be completed within eight weeks, and will be released by mid January 2005. The French and American sides will be allowed to study the draft report in order to inform Egyptian investigators of any remarks or information they wish to be examined or included. These should appear within 60 days of the draft report. "Any remarks or inquires by the French or American sides will be reviewed. If they are significant, the investigation will be extended to cover them. If not, they will be added to the report as a separate section. The final report is due to be in hand by June 2005," Kilada said.
