MS804: Smoke Alerts Activated Before EgyptAir Plane Crash

According to new reports, there were smoke alerts inside the cabin of the EgyptAir MS804 before it crashed in the Mediterranean on May 19.

Data published on air industry website the Aviation Herald has revealed that smoke was detected in the toilet and the aircraft’s electrics, just minutes before the signal was lost.

However, there has been no official confirmation of the data.

Flight MS804 was en route from Paris to Cairo with 66 people on board.

The Aviation Herald said it had received flight data filed through the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) from three independent channels.

According to the publication, the system showed that at 02:26 local time on May 19 smoke was detected in the Airbus A320 toilet.

A minute later – at 00:27 GMT – there was an avionics smoke alert.

The last ACARS message was at 02:29, the air industry website said, and the contact with the plane was lost four minutes later at 02:33 local time.

ACARS is used to routinely download flight data to the airline operating the aircraft.

Greece earlier said that radar showed the Airbus A320 had made two sharp turns and dropped more than 25,000ft before plunging into the sea.

Debris and body parts were found on May 20 by teams searching for the wreckage of the Airbus320, Greek and Egyptian officials said.

Items including seats and luggage have also been retrieved by Egyptian search crews.

The debris was discovered about 180 miles north of Alexandria, the Egyptian military said.

ESA satellites spotted an oil slick in the area where the flight had vanished – but the organization said there was no guarantee it was from the plane.

The search is now focused on finding the plane’s flight recorders, the Associated Press news agency reports.

Egypt has said the plane was more likely to have been brought down by a terrorist act than a technical fault.

However, there has been “absolutely no indication” so far as to why the plane came down, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on May 20.