French aviation agency confirms smoke alerts on EgyptAir plane

The French Bureau of Inquiry and Analysis (BEA) for Civil Aviation Security on Saturday confirmed reports that there were smoke alerts on board EgyptAir flight MS804 shortly before the plane carrying 66 people plunged into the Mediterranean.

A BEA spokesman said messages from the Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) indicated there was cabin smoke before the EgyptAir Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean. But he warned that it was too early to interpret the data.

"The BEA confirms that there have been ACARS messages sent by the plane indicating that there was smoke in the cabin shortly before the break in data transmissions," a spokesman for the French aviation investigation industry told the AFP Saturday. "It’s too early to interpret and understand the causes of the accident until we have found either the wreckage or the [flight data and cockpit voice] recorders.”

The confirmation followed a report on the website The Aviation Herald that the ACARS showed smoke alerts in the toilet and the aircraft’s electrics before the plane crashed. The Aviation Herald, which tracks incidents in the aviation industry, said the information came from three independent channels.

Reports of the smoke alerts came as search teams continued to scour the area in the Mediterranean where EgyptAir flight MS804 is believed to have crashed early Thursday...
 [france24.com]
21/5/16
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