Sun, Jan 04, 2004
All Aboard Feared Dead
Search crews plow the
waters off the Egyptian coast, hoping against hope they'll find
survivors from an Air Flash 737-300 that went down shortly after
take-off Saturday. But there is little cause for hope that any of
the 148 people -- mostly French tourists -- on board have
survived.
Egypt's Civil Aviation Ministry was quick to say the crash
appeared to have been an accident, that there were no indications
terrorism was involved. The French Deputy Transport Minister,
Dominique Bussereau, said the pilot of FSH604 radioed shortly after
take-off from Sharm el-Sheik that he had detected problems with the
aircraft. There was little indication beyond that of the nature of
the problems. The pilot reportedly tried to turn back for the
airport, but didn't make it.
"Up until now, the cause is a technical one," Minister of Civil
Aviation Ahmed Shafeeq told state-run Egyptian television. "There
was a malfunction that made it difficult for the crew to ... save
the plane."
Air Flash, a company which has been operating for some six years
now, said the 737-300 (pictured in file photo, below) was one of
two aircraft in its livery. The airline said wreckage from the
flight was concentrated about nine miles from the airport. Egyptian
aircraft, boats and divers converged on the wreckage shortly after
the aircraft went down, but there were no indications of
survivors.
The weather was reportedly clear and calm when the Air Flash
plane took off at around 5:00 am local time.
The aircraft flew to Sharm el-Sheik from Milan, Italy. At first
glance, officials said its maintenance record looked clean -- it's
last service was conducted in Norway where it was given a clean
bill of health. Teams from Egypt's flag carrier, Egyptair, are on
scene, helping sift through the debris and looking for clues as to
what trouble the flight experienced before it went down.
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