Investigators are looking into the possibility that an ‘overheating’ iPhone 6s killed 66 people onboard EgyptAir MS804
According to sources who spoke out to French newspaper Le Parisien, authorities are investigating the possibility that an ‘overheating’ iPhone 6s and iPad mini brought down EgyptAir flight MS804 in May 2016, killing all 66 passengers and crew onboard.
CCTV retrieved from cameras at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport allegedly shows that the co-pilot of the flight regularly stored a number of personal items on top of the instrument panel in the cockpit prior to departure, as was the case on the morning the Airbus A320 took off for Cairo. – The Times reports the co-pilot had an iPhone 6s, iPad mini and four bottles of perfume on the ‘dashboard’ of the aircraft prior to taxiing to the runway for take-off.
While the Le Parisien sources haven’t been verified, it’s believed air crash investigation officials have now started to investigate whether the items listed by The Times caused the fire which is believed to of started in close proximity to the co-pilot’s instrument panel.
An Apple spokesperson said: “We haven’t been contacted by GTA or any authority investigating this tragic event. 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.”
According to the investigation, an alert onboard the aircraft indicated a series of malfunctions on the right-hand side of the flight deck, followed by smoke warnings in a a toilet and in the avionics area below the cockpit.