EgyptAir flight may have been brought down by pilot's iPhone claim French investigators | Daily Mail Online

A passenger jet that crashed into the Mediterranean last summer may have been brought down when the battery in a pilots' mobile phone overheated and sparked a fire.

CCTV from the gate at Charles de Gaulle airport showed Egyptair co-pilot Mohamed Mamdouh Ahmed Assem, leave his Apple iPhone 6S and iPad mini next to four bottles of perfume on top of the instrument panel in the cockpit of the Airbus A320, which left for Cairo on May 19.

According to French newspaper la Parisien,  investigators believe there is a 'troubling parallel' between where the fire broke out on flight 804 and where the items were placed on the glare-shield.

An Egyptair flight that crashed into the Mediterranean last summer may have been brought down when the battery in a pilots' mobile phone overheated and sparked a fire (file picture) 

France is currently conducting both judicial and civil inquiries into last year's crash, which killed all 66 people on the overnight flight from Paris to Cairo.

Since their recovery, recordings from the plane's black boxes suggest that it broke up in mid-air following fire alerts and smoke detected on the flight deck.

Last night, French newspaper la Parisien said that theories focused on the placement of the items on the glare-shield after nothing unusual was noted about the co-pilot during airport security checks.

It said: 'The images show very clearly that the Egyptian co-pilot placed his phone, tablet and bottles of perfume bought before boarding on the glare shield.

France is currently conducting both judicial and civil inquiries into last year's crash over the Mediterranean, which killed all 66 people on the overnight flight from Paris to Cairo

'The investigators thus note a troubling parallel between the placing of these items that are fed by lithium batteries and the triggering of alarms during the flight.'

However, David Learmount, operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine and a former pilot, played down the likelihood of a mobile phone being able to bring down an airliner. 

He told The Telegraph: 'Firstly, pilots don't leave objects on the dashboard because they know the they will end up in their lap when they take off or on the floor and they'll get airborne in turbulence and could jam the controls.

'Also, a phone bursting into flames just below the windscreen is a fairly spectacular thing to take place on a flight, and they would have told somebody on the ground. Nobody has mentioned this. 

'But the key point is while there were warnings about the window heating systems, there were also smoke alarms in the toilet and avionics bay under the floor. How would the fire have got under there? It doesn't make sense.

'My guess is the little computer in the avionics bay was damaged by fire; and issued spurious warnings, which were in fact the box screaming for help.' 

EGYPTAIR NARROWLY AVOIDED MID-AIR CRASH OVER BELGIUM

An Egyptair flight and an Air France aircraft came within metres of a mid-air collision over Belgium on New Year's Day, a report has revealed.

The cargo flight operated by Egyptair had taken off from Ostend-Bruge airport and was headed to Cairo when it came within close proximity of the other aircraft.

The plane, an Air France service, had taken off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and was headed to Amsterdam.

According to a report from BEA, France's air accident authority, the two planes came within just 1,300 metres of each other at an altitude of 22,000 feet over Belgium.

The report says that the Egyptair flight was climbing in altitude but told to stop as the Air France flight approached.

However, it continued to climb when told to stop and the Air France flight had to quickly increase its altitude to avoid a mid-air collision.

While the CCTV caught the devices on the glare-shield prior to take off, it is unclear whether they had remained there for the duration of the flight.

The findings come as the Egyptian authorities are due to hand back the remains of 15 passengers to France next week.

And while Egypt has claimed that explosives may have been placed on board the aircraft, French investigators briefed the media that the allegations were implausible.

The BEA, France's air accident authority, said it considers it 'not possible at this stage to draw any conclusions on the origin of the accident'.

Egyptian authorities had failed to provide 'detailed information on the conditions in which the samples and measures were taken that led to the detection of explosive traces'.

The stability of lithium batteries has become controversial thanks to their potential to overheat and catch fire.

Some are banned from aircraft and certain batteries in mobile phones are known to catch fire.

Last night Apple, the makers of the iPhone and iPad, said it had not been contacted by 'any authority investigating this tragic event'.

Since their recovery, recordings from the plane's black boxes and other debris suggest that it broke up in mid-air following fire alerts and smoke detected on the flight deck

A lifejacket that was recovered from the crash site in the Mediterranean of the Egyptair aircraft

A spokesman for Apple added: 'We have not seen the report but we understand there is no evidence to link this event to Apple products.

'If investigators have questions for us, we would of course assist in any way we can.

'We rigorously test our products to ensure they meet or exceed international safety standards.' 

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