EgyptAir Crash Caused by Apple Product That Overheated in Cockpit, Families of Victims Claim
A plane crash that killed 66 passengers could have been caused by an Apple product that overheated in the cabin, as the lawsuit of the family members alleged. Investigators are now looking into the angle that the grim incident in May 2016 may have been related to an overheating gadget.
A source from the aviation investigation looking into the EgyptAir crash of 2016 is reportedly suggesting that there's a 'troubling' coincidence linking the spot where a fire broke out in the cockpit of the airplane and where a co-pilot left an iPhone, according to French publication Le Parisien.
EgyptAir Flight 804 crashed into the Mediterranean in May 2016, killing all 66 people on board. No cause has been conclusively identified as of this time, and the investigation continues.
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Family members and relatives of those who died in the crash have now filed a lawsuit alleging that the cockpit fire started when the co-pilot's Apple device, which was either an iPhone 6S or an iPad mini, overheated and caught fire, according to the Daily Sun.
CCTV footage, taken at the Charles de Faulle airport, showed personal belongings stowed on the glare shield of the cockpit hours before the crash. "The images very clearly indicate that the Egyptian co-pilot put his telephone, tablet and bottles of perfume bought before boarding on the glare-shield," Le Parisien's report pointed out, as translated by the Sun.
"The investigators hence note a troubling parallel between the placing of these items that are fed by lithium batteries and the triggering of alarms during the flight," Le Parisien added.
Batteries in various smartphones and mobile gadgets have been known to overheat and become a hazard. There have been reports of iPhone batteries bursting open the phones as well.
Apple, for its part, said that there's no evidence to decisively link Apple products as the cause of the crash. The company added that they have not been contacted by investigators as of this time, as well.
Some aviation experts also gave their two cents on the lawsuits, pointing out that the new theory centered on Apple products could be a "red herring."
"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," David Learmount, former pilot and now operations and safety editor at Flight International magazine, explained to the Daily Telegraph.
He added that in the event that a phone did burst into flames just below the windshield, the pilots would be alerting ground control about this unexpected incident. "Nobody has mentioned this," Learmount added.
