Pilots’ association to take legal action over Flight 804 allegations

CAIRO – 6 May 2022: The Egyptian Pilots Association said Friday it would take legal action to protect the reputation of the national cabin crew and pilots over malicious foreign reports on the EgyptAir Flight 804 crash in 2016.

“The reputation of Egyptian pilots is a red line. We will not allow malicious rhetoric and allegations against them,” the association said in a statement.

Media reports claimed recently that the EgyptAir flight that crashed en route to Cairo was brought down by a pilot who lit a cigarette in the cockpit and ignited a fire.

Such reports are baseless, the association stressed.

The flight crew, the martyrs of duty, were among the most efficient pilots and were non-smokers, it added.

EgyptAir flight MS804 was flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Cairo International Airport on May 19, 2016, when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea between the Greek island of Crete and northern Egypt.

There were 56 passengers and 10 crew members killed in the plane crash, including 12 French nationals, 30 Egyptians, two Iraqis, one Canadian, and one British person.