PARIS, Jan 3 (Reuters) - An Egyptian Boeing 737 carrying 148 people, mainly French tourists, crashed after it had problems taking off and tried to turn back, France's deputy transport minister said on Saturday.
"There was a problem at take-off," Dominique Bussereau told reporters at Paris's main airport, where the plane was headed before it plunged into the Red Sea. "It tried to turn back and it was when trying to do this that it crashed."
Translated from French:
First pieces of recovered bodies, of the Italians take part in research
January 3, 15h40
The first pieces of body of the 148 people, killed in the crash of an Egyptian plane Saturday at sea Red, were recovered, and of the Italian high-speed motorboats take part in the searches in broad of Charm el-Sheik. "We found pieces of body of certain passengers", affirmed the Egyptian Minister for the Civil aviation Ahmed Chafik with Egyptian television, adding that "remains of the apparatus were also found".
"the apparatus broke down technical, just after its takeoff, and which involved a loss of control. It was damaged at sea in the south of the airport of Charm el-Sheik (is)", said Mr. Chafik who went in the seaside resort after the crash.
The plane had not taken much altitude on its takeoff of Charm el-Sheik, "what made very difficult for the pilot to save it and to lead it to good port", has it says, while specifying that "the aircraft was perfectly ready to fly and had been subjected to necessary controls". The head of the Egyptian diplomacy Ahmed Maher indicated that the crash was absolutely not "not due to a terrorist act".
"research continues to find the block box of the apparatus, to be able to slice in a final way the causes" of the crash, indicated a person in charge for the Civil aviation. The Boeing 737, pertaining to the private Egyptian company Airlines Flash, went to Paris via Cairo. It had disappeared from the radarscopes before the paddle, a few minutes after its takeoff of the airport of Charm el-Sheik.
It transported 135 French tourists and 13 Egyptian members of crew, according to Flash Airlines and of the Egyptian airport sources. According to sources' of the ministry for the Civil aviation, "after checking of the lists of passengers, 133 French tourists, a Morrocan woman and a Japanese woman were on board, as well as the thirteen Egyptians members of the crews the main thing and alternative".
But the French ministry of the Foreign Affairs gave a report on 127 French among the 135 passengers. High-speed motorboats of the Egyptian coastguards brought back towards bank of the luggage and of the remains of the apparatus, with the AFP the director of a hotel with Charm el-Sheik declared, which required anonymity.
He indicated to have seen "two parts of luggage and the white remains of approximately a meter, perhaps the doors of the apparatus, on board one high-speed motorboat to bay of Naama", where tens of hotels and centers of diving are located.
Military planes and helicopters as well as ships of the naval forces and other boats lead research to more than one kilometer off the coast, it affirmed.
"There was much movement (early the morning). People wanted to know what occurred, but maintaining that calmed itself ", according to him.
Small pieces of the hull of the apparatus were fished out by the first-aid workers, according to images diffused by Egyptian television.
Black rubber a slipper, small pieces of luggage, a bag with hand in fabric empties and of papers of color floated on water, according to these images.
Italian warships, at sea Red, take part in research, declared with the AFP the consul of Italy to Cairo, Federica Favi. "the commander of the Italian quota of the FMO takes part in local research since 05H00 (03H00 GMT)". The multinational Forces and of observers (FMO), stationed in the Sinai under the terms of the agreements of peace égypto-Israelis, have three warships, it indicated, without being able to say if all were implied in research.
I'm curious as to how authorities know the plane was trying to turn back. I understand there was no radio contact describing a mechanical problem and the plane was lost from radar. Odd.
This is two in a week, first the Lebonese flight now this one from Egypt. I'm not so sure terrorism isn't involved.
More technical overview of 737 family class.
http://wf4.search.com/click?wf,Boeing+737,,www.geocities.com%2Fairgall6%2Fb737.htm,,aol The following events are those involving at least one passenger death on a 737 where the aircraft flight had a direct or indirect role. Excluded would be events where the only passengers killed were stowaways, hijackers, or saboteurs.
8 December 1972; United Airlines 737-200; Midway Airport, Chicago: The aircraft crashed during approach. Three of the six crew and 40 of the 55 passengers were killed.
31 May 1973; Indian Airlines 737-200; near New Dehli, India: The aircraft crashed and caught fire during landing. The crash killed five of the seven crew members and 43 of the 58 passengers.
4 December 1977; Malaysian Airline System 737-200; near Johore Strait, Malaysia: The aircraft was hijacked and subsequently destroyed by an in flight explosion. All seven crew members and 93 passengers were killed.
11 February 1978; Pacific Western Airlines 737-200; Cranbrook Airport, Canada: The aircraft crashed after thrust reversers did not fully stow following a rejected landing that was executed in order to avoid a snowplow. The crash killed four of the crew members and 38 of the 44 passengers.
10 May 1980; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Rampur Hat, India: The aircraft experienced severe en route turbulence. Two of the 132 passengers were killed.
22 August 1981; Far Eastern Air Transport 737-200; near Sanyi, Taiwan: The aircraft experienced in flight structural failure. The crash killed all six crew members and 104 passengers.
13 January 1982; Air Florida 737-200; Washington, DC:. The crew did not activate heaters on engine sensors during icing conditions. The crew subsequently did not adjust the engines to allow sufficient thrust for takeoff and the aircraft stalled and crashed into the frozen Potomac River. The crash killed four of the five crew members and 70 of the 74 passengers.
25 May 1982; VASP 737-200; Brasilia, Brazil: The aircraft had a hard landing in a rainstorm and broke in two. The crash killed two of the 112 passengers.
11 July 1983; TAME 737-200; near Cuenca, Ecuador: The aircraft hit high ground during approach. The crash killed all eight crew members and 111 passengers.
23 September 1983; Gulf Air 737-200; Mino Jobel Ali, near Abu Dhabi, UAE: Crashed during approach after a bomb had exploded in the baggage compartment. The crash killed all six crew members and 105 of 111 passengers.
8 November 1983; TAAG Angola Airlines 737-200; Lubango, Angola: The aircraft crashed 900 meters short of the runway. The crash killed all five crew members and 121 of 126 passengers.
30 August 1984; Cameroon Airlines 737-200; Douala, Cameroon: While on the ground, one of the engines had an uncontained failure which ruptured a fuel tank and started fire. Two of the 108 passengers were killed.
15 April 1985; Thai Airways 737-200; Phuket, Thailand: The aircraft hit high ground in darkness and was destroyed by the impact and subsequent fire. The crash killed all four passengers and seven crew members.
22 August 1985; British Airtours 737-200; Manchester Airport, England: The crew rejected the takeoff due to an uncontained engine failure. The failure led to a punctured fuel tank and a fire that spread to the cabin. The accident killed 53 of 131 passengers and two of six crew members.
23 November 1985; Egyptair 737-200; Valletta, Malta: The aircraft was hijacked to Malta. After several hours of negotiations, Egyptian troops stormed the aircraft. During the ensuing battle, the hijackers threw several hand grenades. The aircraft was severely damaged by the explosions and fire. Two of the six crew members and 58 of the 90 passengers were killed.
28 January 1986; VASP 737-200; Sao Paulo, Brazil: The crew attempted to fly in bad weather and rejected the takeoff . One of the 60 passengers and none of the four crew members were killed.
16 February 1986; China Airlines 737-200; Pescadores Islands, Taiwan: The aircraft touched down on the runway but crashed during an attempted go around . All six passengers and seven crew members were killed.
25 December 1986; Iraqi Airways 737-200; Over Saudi Arabia: The aircraft was en route between Iraq and Jordan when hijackers set off grenades and started a gunfight with security forces on board the aircraft. The aircraft crashed near Arar Saudi Arabia, killing 67 of the 107 passengers.
4 August 1987; LAN Chile 737-200; Calama, Chile: The gear failed during landing and the aircraft broke in two and caught fire. One of the 27 passengers were killed.
31 August 1987; Thai Airways 737-200; Phuket, Thailand: While descending during a daylight approach in good weather, the crew lost control of the aircraft and crashed into sea, apparently due to a combination of errors by the flight crew and air traffic control. All of the nine crew members and 74 passengers were killed.
4 January 1988; Condor 737-200; Izmir, Turkey: The aircraft hit high ground on approach. All five crew members and 11 passengers were killed.
28 April 1988; Aloha 737-200; near Maui, HI: The aircraft had an explosive decompression due to metal fatigue in upper cabin area. The crew was able to execute a successful emergency landing with a significant portion of the upper fuselage missing. One of the five crew members was killed.
Note: Even though no passengers were killed and therefore not a fatal airline event, this mishap is included in this list because of the effect it had on air safety practices. As a result of this accident, there were a number of regulatory changes involving inspection requirements for older aircraft such as the one involved in this event.
15 September 1988; Ethiopian Airlines 737-200; Bahar Dar, Ethiopia: During takeoff, the aircraft ingested numerous pigeons into both engines. One engine lost thrust almost immediately and the second lost thrust during the emergency return to the airport. As a result of the crash landing, 31 of the 105 passengers were killed.
19 October 1988; Indian Airlines 737-200; Ahmedabad, India: The aircraft hit an electric mast five miles (eight km)out on approach in poor visibility. All six crew members and 124 of 129 passengers were killed.
8 January 1989; British Midland Airways 737-400; near East Midlands Airport, UK: A fan blade failure at top of climb damaged one engine and the crew mistakenly performed a precautionary engine shutdown on the wrong engine. The damaged engine lost power shortly before landing and the flight crew was unable to restart the good engine prior to striking the ground. 47 of the 118 passengers were killed.
AAIB Accident Report
9 March 1989; Piedmont 737-200; near Dayton, OH: The aircraft lost cabin pressurization at 31,000 feet (9450 meters). The aircraft executed an emergency descent and landed at Dayton, OH. One of the 70 passengers was taken from the plane to a local hospital and died less than seven hours later. Note: The local medical authorities declared the death due to natural causes. The NTSB also lists this event as an incident and not a fatal accident.
3 September 1989; Varig 737-200; near Sao Jose do Xingu, Brazil: Pilot navigational error led to fuel exhaustion and a forced landing in jungle. Twelve of the 48 passengers were killed in the crash. The survivors were forced to search for help before being discovered two days later.
20 September 1989; USAir 737-400; La Guardia Airport, New York: The crew incorrectly trimmed the rudder for takeoff and were forced to abort the takeoff. The aircraft overran the runway and was partially submerged in water. Two of the 55 passengers were killed.
26 October 1989; China Airlines 737-200; near Hualien, Taiwan: The crew was using an incorrect departure procedure and hit cloud shrouded high ground at 7000 feet (2130 meters). All seven crew members and 49 passengers were killed.
11 May 1990; Philippine Airlines 737-300; Manila, Philippines: While the aircraft was taxiing, one of the fuel tanks exploded. Eight of the 113 passengers were killed.
2 October 1990; Xiamen Airlines 737-200; Guangzhou, China: Hijacker detonated bomb during approach, causing the 737 to hit parked 757 on the ground. Seven of the nine crew members and 75 of the 93 passengers were killed.
1 February 1991; USAir 737-300; Los Angeles, CA: The USAir flight was cleared to land on a runway which also had a Skywest Metro III on the runway awaiting takeoff. The aircraft collided and burst into flames. Two of the six crew members and 20 of the 83 passengers on the USAir jet were killed. All 10 passengers and two crew members on the Metro III were killed.
3 March 1991; United Airlines 737-200; near Colorado Springs, CO: The aircraft departed from controlled flight and crashed during its approach. The NTSB has not yet determined the cause of this accident. All five crew members and 20 passengers were killed.
NTSB Abstract of Full Accident Report
NTSB Accident Report
16 August 1991; Indian Airlines 737-200; near Imphal, India: The aircraft hit high ground during descent about 30 km from the airport. All six crew members and 63 passengers were killed.
6 June 1992; COPA Panama 737-200; near Ticuti, Panama: Aircraft was in cruise when it went into an uncontrolled high speed dive and broke up several thousand feet above the ground. All seven crew members and 40 passengers were killed.
24 November 1992; China Southern Airlines 737-300; Guangzhou, China: Aircraft hit high ground during approach. All eight crew members and 133 passengers were killed.
26 April 1993; Indian Airlines 737-200; Aurangabad, India: The flight crew initiated their liftoff late and the aircraft struck a large vehicle on a road just outside the airport. The vehicle strike damaged one engine and the aircraft later hit power lines and crashed. Four of the six crew members and 52 of the 112 passengers were killed. The administrators of the airport were also cited for failing to regulate traffic on that same road.
26 July 1993; Asiana Airlines 737-500; near Mokpo, Korea: The aircraft struck high ground in poor weather about 4 km from the runway while it was making its third attempt at a landing. Four of the six crew members and 64 of the 104 passengers were killed.
8 September 1994; USAir 737-300; near Pittsburgh, PA: The aircraft lost control at about 6,000 feet (1830 meters) during approach. All five crew members and 127 passengers were killed.
AirSafe.com Accident Links
NTSB Abstract of Full Report
NTSB Full Accident Report
29 December 1994; THY Turkish Airlines 737-400; near Van, Turkey: The aircraft hit a hill four km from the airport during the plane's fourth landing attempt. Six of the seven crew members and 49 of the 55 passengers were killed
9 August 1995; Aviateca 737-200; near San Salvador, El Salvador: The aircraft struck a volcano at night in heavy rain and thunderstorms. All seven crew members and 58 passengers were killed
13 November 1995; Nigeria Airways 737-200; Kaduna, Nigeria: The aircraft touched down about halfway down the runway and eventually departed the runway off to one side. The aircraft was subsequently destroyed by fire. Nine of the 129 passengers were killed. The event happened in daylight and the runway was dry.
3 December 1995; Cameroon Airlines 737-200; Douala, Cameroon: The aircraft was on a flight from Cotonou, Benin and crashed in darkness about three miles (4.8 km) short of the runway in a swamp. The crew members reportedly aborted the first landing attempt and they were on their second approach when the accident occurred. Four of the six crew members and 68 of the 72 passengers were killed.
29 February 1996; Faucett Airlines 737-200; Arequipa, Peru: The aircraft was on a scheduled domestic night flight from Lima to Arequipa when it crashed several miles from the airport. All 117 passengers and six crew members were killed.
2 April 1996; U.S. Air Force 737-T43; near Dubrovnik, Croatia: The aircraft struck mountainous terrain while attempting to land at the airport under conditions of reduced visibility. The flight crew was using an unapproved approach. All six crew members and 29 passengers were killed. Among the passengers were a number of U.S. corporate executives and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Ron Brown. The aircraft is a military version of the 737 that was used to transport military and civilian VIPs.
Note: Although not a fatal airline event, it is included due to the circumstances of the crash.
Commentary from Dr. Peter Ladkin of the University of Bielefeld
8 May 1997; China Southern Airlines 737-300; Shenzhen, China: The aircraft landed at night during a heavy rainstorm at Shenzhen-Huangtian airport after a domestic flight from Chongqing. The aircraft apparently broke up and caught fire after it veered off the runway. Early reports indicate that at least two of the nine crew members and 33 of the 65 passengers were killed.
19 December 1997; SilkAir 737-300; near Palembang, Indonesia: The aircraft crashed in a river about 35 miles (56 km) north of Palembang while en route between Jakarta and Singapore. All seven crew members and 97 passengers were killed.
5 May 1998; Occidental Petroleum 737-200;near Andoas, Peru: The aircraft crashed near the Andoas airport during a rainstorm after a flight from Iquitos. The aircraft was executing an NDB approach at the time of the accident. Five of the seven crew members and 69 of the 80 passengers were killed.
Note: The aircraft had been leased by Occidental Petroleum from the Peruvian Air Force in order to ferry its workers to the Andoas area. it is not counted as a fatal event in the 737 rate statistics because the flight was a private charter that was not open to the general public.
31 August 1999; LAPA 737-200; Buenos Aires, Argentina: The aircraft settled back onto the runway just after takeoff, overran the runway, hit two cars on a nearby road, and caught fire. The crew had continued the takeoff in spite of a configuration alarm. There were 65 fatalities among the 98 passengers and five crew members. Two of the occupants in the cars were also killed.
19 April 2000; Air Philippines 737-200; near Davao, Philippines: The aircraft crashed on Samal Island near the city of Davao during its second approach to Davao's airport. The aircraft had begun its flight in Manila. All 124 passengers and seven crew members were killed in the crash.
17 July 2000; Alliance Air 737-200; Patna, India: The aircraft was on a domestic flight from Calcutta to Patna and was making a second approach when the aircraft crashed into a residential area about 2 km (1.25 miles) from the airport. All six crew members and 45 of the 52 passengers were killed. Five people on the ground were also killed.
7 May 2002; EgyptAir 737-500; near Tunis, Tunisia: The aircraft crashed about 6 km (3.8 mi) from the airport after a flight from Cairo. The aircraft was reportedly making a second approach for landing when it crashed into high ground during a period of reduced visibility due to fog and sandstorms. Three of the six crew members and 11 of the 56 passengers were killed.
Fatal Events for Airlines of the Middle East and Africa
Fatal Events for EgyptAir
6 March 2003; Air Algérie 737-200; near Tamanrasset, Algeria: The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a domestic flight from Tamanrasset to Ghardaia. One of the engines reportedly caught fire during takeoff. Five of the six crew members and all 97 passengers were killed.
Fatal Events with a sole survivor
Fatal Events for Airlines of the Middle East and Africa
8 July 2003; Sudan Airways 737-200C; near Port Sudan, Sudan: The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a domestic flight from Port Sudan to Khartoum. The flight crew reported technical difficulties shortly after takeoff and the aircraft crashed about three miles (five km) from the airport.. All 11 crew members and 105 of the 106 passengers were killed.
Fatal Events with a sole survivor
Fatal Events for Airlines of the Middle East and Africa
3 January 2004; Flash Airlines 737-300; near Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt: The aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff on a domestic flight to Cairo and crashed into the Red Sea about nine miles (15 km) south of the city. All 127 passengers and eight crew members were killed. Flash Airlines is a charter operator based in Egypt.
Fatal Events for Airlines of the Middle East and Africa
http://wf4.search.com/click?wf,Boeing+737,,www.boeing.com%2Fcommercial%2F737family%2Fmultimedia.html,,aol
As an aside, the first one in the list is the one that the wife of Howard Hunt (Watergate figure) was on when it crashed. She was one of the dead. Reportedly she was carrying about $10,000 at the time, leading to a lot of speculation.
I said this morning...intentional grounding.
I believe most "crashes" of the last decade were just that - intentional grounding by terrorists.
