Egyptian airliner crash: 148 all feared dead
Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2004 8:47 am
Very sad story this morning:
From CNN's website:
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Red Sea crash: Wreckage found
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/ ... index.html
CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- Rescue crews have located the remnants of an Egyptian charter plane which crashed into the Red Sea hours earlier carrying 148 people, most of them French tourists, according to Egyptian officials.
The Boeing 737 went down shortly after taking off at 4:45 a.m. Saturday (9:45 p.m. Friday ET) from the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, airline officials said. Minutes later, the aircraft disappeared from radar.
Aviation officials said the aircraft did not make a distress call.
The Flash Airlines charter plane -- carrying 135 passengers and 13 crew members -- was headed to Cairo before continuing to Paris, according to a spokeswoman with the Cairo-based carrier.
She said the passengers were all French nationals.
Searchers located some of the plane's debris in the waters about eight miles (11 km) south of the seaside airport, but have not confirmed if anyone survived the crash, according to officials with Egypt's civil aviation ministry.
In Paris, distraught family members arrived at a crisis center set up at a hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport, where the plane had been scheduled to land around 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET).
France's transport secretary Dominique Bussereau said 127 of the passengers were French, and they are all presumed dead. The plane had apparently tried to turn back toward Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before it went down, Bussereau said.
The crash occurred amid a week of heightened concerns about terrorist threats from the air that have led to increased security and canceled flights around the world.
Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Mohamed Shafiq Zaki said the cause of the crash was "entirely technical."
Evidence from witnesses and equipment suggested that the crew lost control of the aircraft shortly after take-off because of a technical fault, he said.
France has offered to help with the investigation into what caused the crash.
Flash Airlines operates two Boeing 737s and is part of Flash Group, which offers vacation packages across Egypt, including Sharm el-Sheikh -- a popular vacation spot, especially for Europeans during the winter months.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family are currently vacationing in Sharm el-Sheikh, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
-- CNN's Sandy Petrykowski in Cairo, Jim Bittermann in Paris, and Ninette Sosa contributed to this report
_____________________________
Mary
From CNN's website:
________________________________
Red Sea crash: Wreckage found
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/01/ ... index.html
CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- Rescue crews have located the remnants of an Egyptian charter plane which crashed into the Red Sea hours earlier carrying 148 people, most of them French tourists, according to Egyptian officials.
The Boeing 737 went down shortly after taking off at 4:45 a.m. Saturday (9:45 p.m. Friday ET) from the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, airline officials said. Minutes later, the aircraft disappeared from radar.
Aviation officials said the aircraft did not make a distress call.
The Flash Airlines charter plane -- carrying 135 passengers and 13 crew members -- was headed to Cairo before continuing to Paris, according to a spokeswoman with the Cairo-based carrier.
She said the passengers were all French nationals.
Searchers located some of the plane's debris in the waters about eight miles (11 km) south of the seaside airport, but have not confirmed if anyone survived the crash, according to officials with Egypt's civil aviation ministry.
In Paris, distraught family members arrived at a crisis center set up at a hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport, where the plane had been scheduled to land around 9 a.m. (3 a.m. ET).
France's transport secretary Dominique Bussereau said 127 of the passengers were French, and they are all presumed dead. The plane had apparently tried to turn back toward Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before it went down, Bussereau said.
The crash occurred amid a week of heightened concerns about terrorist threats from the air that have led to increased security and canceled flights around the world.
Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Ahmed Mohamed Shafiq Zaki said the cause of the crash was "entirely technical."
Evidence from witnesses and equipment suggested that the crew lost control of the aircraft shortly after take-off because of a technical fault, he said.
France has offered to help with the investigation into what caused the crash.
Flash Airlines operates two Boeing 737s and is part of Flash Group, which offers vacation packages across Egypt, including Sharm el-Sheikh -- a popular vacation spot, especially for Europeans during the winter months.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family are currently vacationing in Sharm el-Sheikh, according to a Downing Street spokesman.
-- CNN's Sandy Petrykowski in Cairo, Jim Bittermann in Paris, and Ninette Sosa contributed to this report
_____________________________
Mary
