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Home » EgyptAir » Report: EgyptAir A320 Crash Caused By Pilot Smoking
EgyptAir

Report: EgyptAir A320 Crash Caused By Pilot Smoking

Matthew Klint Posted onApril 28, 2022November 14, 2023 14 Comments

a large flock of birds flying over an airplane

A 2016 Airbus A320 crash on EgyptAir that killed 66 was amazingly caused by a cigarette plus oxygen leak in the cockpit according to a new report.

Smoking Plus Oxygen Leak Caused EgyptAir A320 Crash In 2016

On May 19, 2016, EgyptAir flight MS804 traveling from Paris (CDG) to Cairo (CAI) crashed somewhere between the Greek island of Crete and northern Egypt. There were no survivors.

For years, the cause of the crash was unknown. While a leak from French investigators in December 2019 blamed “gross negligence” for the incident and hinted at an onboard fire, it is only now that that we have a better idea of what occurred onboard.

France’s Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) has released a new report, blaming pilot smoking and a leaking oxygen mask for the crash.

Pilot Mohamed Said Shoukair smoked during the flight, which was (and is still) typical in an EgyptAir cockpit. But unbeknownst to him, oxygen was leaking though an oxygen mask in the cockpit (a valve had apparently been placed in an incorrect position three days prior). French investigators noted that from the black box recording, oxygen could be heard hissing.

The lethal combination caused a fire in the cockpit that the flight crew was unable to extinguish, shortly leading to a crash.

Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities had blamed the crash on a terrorist attack, citing “traces of explosives” found on the victims. But French investigators quickly discredited this theory. Egypt has dismissed the BEA’s findings as unfounded.

CONCLUSION

The implications for this crash are scary, especially considering EgyptAir pilots were still smoking in the cockpit on my flight from Washington (IAD) to Cairo (CAI) late last year. I must admit, I am far less comfortable flying EgyptAir after reading this report.


> Read More: EgyptAir 787-9 Business Class Review
> Read More:  Disturbing EgyptAir Safety Report


image: EgyptAir

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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14 Comments

  1. Random gawande Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 7:54 am

    Allow the passengers family to use the french report to sue EgyptAir and goverment of egypt. A huge financial penalty will cause them to change behavior. Tell putin he can bomb Cairo for a few days if EgyptAir does not pay the legal settlement. Putin will like that.

  2. Steve Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 8:01 am

    very bad habit

  3. Joe Chivas Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 8:53 am

    Sounds like a real drag

    • Ron Reply
      April 30, 2022 at 5:22 am

      Sounds like they found the smoking gun.

  4. AngryFlier Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 11:40 am

    EgyptAir offers flights for adrenaline junkies: not only do you have to worry about your captain pulling an Allahu Akbar into the sea from 35.000 feet – but he can also burn everyone up with a simple Marlboro. The flight crew is a dual threat.

  5. Joe T Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 11:44 am

    @Matt. Is EgytAir flight crews still allowed to smoke in the cockpit today?

    • Jerry Reply
      April 28, 2022 at 12:53 pm

      Being allowed to, and choosing to do so, are two different things.

  6. Christopher Collopy Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 3:09 pm

    Why does the U.S. Dept of Transportation allow Egypt Air access to U.S. airspace if there is such a potential risk to flight safety? Will never fly Egypt Air,

  7. Kenneth Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 4:22 pm

    I swore-off ever again flying EgyptAir after the 1999 crash of flight 990. That was the JFK to Cairo 767 intentionally flown into the Atlantic Ocean by the co-pilot, while the captain was in the toilet. This co-pilot was about to be fired for having a record of exposing himself to hotel employees on layovers. With a very sick daughter in Cairo, who needed expensive medical care, this fellow apparently thought dying in a plane crash would mean his family would be taken care of by EgyptAir. The details surrounding the suicide crash were bad enough, but EgyptAir’s absolute refusal to own-up to the cause of the crash was nothing short of disgusting. Equally pathetic was the United State’s decision not to press the matter, for fear of jeopardizing U.S. – Egypt relations.

    Plenty of airlines fly to Egypt. There’s no good reason to fly the country’s 3rd-rate ‘flag’ carrier. And with this latest revelation, there’s even more reason to book away from EgyptAir.

  8. carletonm Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 5:14 pm

    Smoking culture, and the feeling among some that there is a “right” to smoke, is pathetic. Prohibition is unworkable, but there is a better way: tax the **** out of tobacco products worldwide (and divert all the taxes to health care) so young people can’t afford to even get started – and if they don’t start, they never will once they grow up.

    • Joe Reply
      April 28, 2022 at 6:10 pm

      Yes, Carlton, you are a genius.
      Today tye cartels make billions off of cocaine and heroine. The poor movies barely make do. Let’s create a black market in Cigarettes, to mess up Mexico even more, enrich the cartels, and increase domestic tensions. Next on your list is probably raising alcohol taxes to prohibitive levels.

  9. Random gawande Reply
    April 28, 2022 at 9:21 pm

    Sex is the most natural thing in the world. Have you seen god? Can anyone prove existence of god? No. God is just fantasy.

    If it’s ok to talk about god in public it should be ok to have sex in public. We corrupt minds of young kids more with religious drivel than a naked hot blonde on her back. Religion is the cause of the most dangerous, brainwashed terrorists in this world: Islamist jihadists, isis, ira, white Republican men etc.

    Less religion. More hot naked blondes

  10. david Reply
    April 29, 2022 at 5:56 am

    Smoking in a confined space like a cockpit must play hell on the electronics and switches.

    • Kenneth Reply
      April 29, 2022 at 9:26 am

      I agree, David!

      As a DC-8 flight attendant in the 1970s I remember how aircraft maintenance would regularly open the PSU (Passenger Service Unit) above each group of triple seats, in order to wipe-away the build-up of gummy nicotine. This was done because the sticky cigarette smoke residue could have prevented oxygen masks from automatically deploying during a decompression.

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