Egyptair flight MS804 that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea caused by cigarette being smoked in the cockpit

EgyptAir flight MS804 that disappeared from radar on 19 May 2016 has crashed after one of the pilots lit a cigarette in the cockpit, an investigation revealed.

The Airbus A320 (registered SU-GCC) operated a regular flight between Paris CDG, France and Cairo, Egypt when air traffic control suddenly lost contact with aircraft.

A search-and-rescue operations was started in the eastern Mediterranean sea but all 66 souls on board died. Originally, the Egyptian authorities claimed that the aircraft was downed by terrorists.

But the official investigation now revealed that a cigarette in the vicinity of a leaking oxygen mask has caused the crash: investigators could hear a hissing sound indicating a leak in one of the supplementary cockpit oxygen supply.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera revealed that an investigation also claimed that Egyptian pilots habitually smoked in the cockpit and the practice was not prohibited at the time of the crash in 2016.

Earlier reports found the plane had sent a series of warnings indicating that smoke had been detected on board through ACARS (aircraft sms system).

Recovered wreckage from the aircraft’s front section showed signs of high temperature damage and soot, the committee of investigators said.