EgyptAir Flight 804 — aircraft that crashed into Mediterranean sea on 19 May 2016
The crash killed all 66 aboard and produced conflicting official findings between Egyptian and French investigators about its cause.
Key Facts
- Date of crash
- 19 May 2016, 02:33 Egypt Standard Time
- Aircraft type
- Airbus A320
- Occupants killed
- 66 people
- Debris location
- Approximately 290 km north of Alexandria
- Flight route
- Paris Charles de Gaulle to Cairo International Airport
- Investigation reports released
- 30 October 2024, conflicting conclusions
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Shortly before the aircraft vanished from radar, ACARS automatically transmitted signals indicating smoke in a lavatory and in the avionics bay. No mayday call was made. The ultimate origin of the fire remains disputed: Egypt's Civil Aviation Authority attributed it to an explosion in the galley near the cockpit, while France's BEA concluded it most likely resulted from a fault in the oxygen mask system.
On 19 May 2016, EgyptAir Flight 804, operating a scheduled service from Paris to Cairo, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea at 02:33 local time, killing all 66 people on board. The Airbus A320 disappeared from radar without issuing a distress call, and wreckage was subsequently located approximately 290 km north of Alexandria.
A multinational search and recovery operation located major wreckage sections on the seabed and retrieved both flight recorders within weeks. Analysis of the flight data recorder confirmed smoke had been present inside the aircraft. Conflicting reports issued in October 2024 by Egyptian and French aviation authorities left the definitive cause of the disaster unresolved, complicating closure for victims' families and aviation safety reviews.