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French judge rules out new probe into Paris-bound Egyptian jet crash

Lawyers representing relatives of some of the 148 victims, including134 French nationals, who perished in January 2004 when a Paris-bound Flash Airlines flight crashed into the Red Sea shortly after takeoff announced that they are to appeal a decision refusing the reopening of an investigation into the disaster which earlier found it was due to pilot error. 

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Nearly 14 years after a Paris-bound Egyptian airliner crashed into the Red Sea, killing all 148 on board including 134 French passengers, a Paris judge has ruled out a new probe into the accident, lawyers said Monday, reports Digital Journal.

The ruling was made on July 11th, lawyers Jean-Pierre Bellecave and Gerard Montigny told AFP, adding that families of the victims had appealed the decision.

Prosecutors announced in January 2016 that they would not seek charges in the crash and argued that a new probe could reach no other conclusion than that human error was to blame.

The low-cost Flash Airlines flight carrying mainly French tourists plunged into the Red Sea three minutes after taking off from the resort Sharm el-Sheikh on January 3, 2004.

Prosecutors pointed to "numerous failures" including "rapid analysis resulting in bad decisions" in the crash, adding that the probe was closed because the pilots died.

Experts investigating the crash pointed out in a 2009 report that the pilots aboard were inadequately trained and suffering from fatigue due to their intense working hours in the two weeks leading up to the accident.


Read more of this AFP report published by Digital Journal.